Snapchat Down: Mobile App Acting up for Some Users

Thousands of Snapchat users lit up social media Monday with reports that the mobile messaging application wasn’t working. Some Snapchatters experienced trouble sending messages to their friends, saying on Twitter that the messages would show up as “failed to send.” The error is believed to have been an isolated incident, and lasted at least three hours.

The company tweeted Monday that “some Snapchatters” were having trouble with the chat feature and were looking into a resolution.

Despite the message that they were trying to fix it, Snapchatters, as expected, freaked out on Twitter.

Snapchat is the No. 4 most-downloaded application on the iTunes App Store behind Instagram, YouTube and tbh.

The application was released in September 2011 after it was created by several students at Stanford University. The uniqueness of the application is that the photos and messages are only available for a select amount of time before they’re inaccessible. Over the years, the company has rolled out numerous features such as chatting with text messages and the “Snap Map.” The “Snap Map” feature was released in June 2017 and allowed users to see the location of friends on a map. Understandably, the release of the feature received criticism over its privacy and safety.

A Snapchat spokesperson addressed the controversy, saying: “The safety of our community is very important to us and we want to make sure that all Snapchatters, parents, and educators have accurate information about how the Snap Map works.”

The application was the subject of a hack by an anonymous group on December 31, 2013. The hackers exposed about 4.6 million Snapchat usernames and phone numbers, publishing the information on a website.

After the hack, the group released a statement saying its objective was to “raise public awareness” and put pressure onto the company to fix a security vulnerability.

Earlier this year, Snap, Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, made its debut as a publicly-traded company and raised more than $3.4 billion in its initial public offering. During its first day on the stock market, the stock closed at $24.48, up 44 percent from where it started the day.

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