Snapchat is in the middle of an identity crisis

Snapchat is in the middle of an identity crisis

There was a time a year or so ago when, if a friend wanted to send me a meme or a funny selfie, it would be on Snapchat. But I don't remember the last time that happened; at some point Instagram became our go-to messaging app. And apparently I'm not alone: Snapchat lost as many as 3 million daily users in 2018. Meanwhile, Instagram has grown so fast over the past two years that its Stories feature alone is much bigger than 

Snapchat, with more than 500 million daily users. This has arguably come at Snapchat's expense. But it's not as if Snap isn't looking to turn things around. The company wants to reinvent itself by trying a bunch of different things, like augmented reality shopping, being more open and teaming up with brands such as Nike on AR workshops.

Snap Inc.'s struggles have been well-documented. From Snapchat's sluggish Android app to a revolving door of executives, it's easy to see why the app's user base has remained flat since 2017. Its biggest problem right now, though, is that it seems to be having an identity crisis. It's hard to tell what it wants to be: One day Snapchat reveals augmented reality lenses for dogs, the next it adds more hockey highlights to its app.

Snapchat is still making a major push into short-form original content too, an effort that began with the launch of Discover in 2015. Just last month, it announced a new show called Bringing Up Bhabie, featuring 15-year-old rapper Bhad Bhabie (whose real name is Danielle Bregoli). Bhad Bhabie became an internet celebrity after an appearance on Dr. Phil in 2017, where her family troubles were aired and she dared the taunting audience to "cash me ousside, how 'bout dat?" if they had something to say to her face. Since then, she's been in videos with controversial YouTube star Logan Paul and was nominated for a Billboard Music Award.