The aftershocks of Snapchat’s disastrous redesign continue, with a new report claiming that many whose livelihood depends on the social network now fear for their jobs.
Select/All reports that "a number of Snap content producers and channel managers" have expressed their concern, with one saying: “Traffic has plummeted since the update. I’m sure it’s different brand-by-brand, but we’re seeing way lower numbers.”
In fact, that source claimed their traffic had more than halved.
Another added: “It’s hard to motivate people to sink time into sick animation work when the numbers come back and it’s like, ‘oh, almost no one is seeing this’.”
And another: “All of our numbers just went haywire. Our unique views skyrocketed, but time-spent numbers sank.”
The site speculates that the jump in uniques may be do with the fact that Snapchat now autoplays some content.
One source even went as far to say: “As far as job security, there’s a reason Snapchat is nowhere in my title.”
Overblown?
In contrast, other sources have downplayed the outcry, saying that some volatility is to be expected after any redesign. Others said that the changes gave them more creative freedom.
There are also other frustrations, however, with complaints that the recent job cuts at Snap have left companies without a reachable contact at the company, or at the least suffering communication delays.
“Before the layoffs, about two or three months ago, we had Discover reps who would help us workshop tile copy and gave us feedback on performance,” a source said.
“They are now essentially all gone and we get either radio silence or a delayed response. I think because they are so overwhelmed trying to make up for lost people.”
Snap does appear to be trying to address the issue, although not by reversing its redesign. Instead it is hosting a number of publisher summits across the US to gather feedback and re-establish relationships. Snap insists that these meetings were in place long before the current slump.
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