Snapchat
Snapchat is a mobile multimedia messaging app and service that was initially released in 2011 as a person-to-person sharing platform, featuring photo and text messaging available only for short time periods. Since then, the application has developed to include augmented reality (AR) features such as filters, games, and graphics, as well as expanded the options for sharing and advertising. At the creation of this toolkit, Snapchat additionally offers "Stories" in which users can publicly or privately share photographs, text, and video and a "Discover" feature with which users and companies can create short sequences of multimedia for entertainment and/or advertising.
How to search
Upon opening the app, there is a magnifying glass icon in the upper left corner of the screen next to the user’s avatar. This icon stays in place across all pages in the app and works as a search for all users and content on the platform.
When the user taps on the icon, four categories appear: “Best Friends,” “Recents,” “Quick Add,” and “Trending.” “Best Friends” shows the users they communicate with the most, “Recents” shows recently searched for users and content, “Quick Add,” recommends users to add based on common friends, and “Trending,” shows currently popular filters, games, and episodes.
From here, a user can type either the name or user name of a person they are searching for or the name or description of a filter, game, or episode. The results are divided into categories of “Lenses,” “Add Friends,” “Subscribe,” “Shows,” “Episodes,” “Places,” “Topics,” and “Sounds,” each of which show results that are most closely related to the search words used.
How search works
There is little information available about how the algorithms within Snapchat work, specifically how the search and "Best Friends" features work, but there is some information regarding how the "Quick Add," and "Lenses" features work.
Quick Add
The "Quick Add" feature works to recommend users that you may know or have interest in by analyzing your friends, their friends, and other things in common.
Lenses
In order to apply "Lenses," or filters, Snapchat uses the Viola-Jones algorithm to analyze Haar Features, or common structures and features across all faces. Once this initial analysis is completed, the program then uses Active Shape Model to identify facial borders and create a 3D model that can adapt to and move with the face.
Problematic Policies
According to a research project completed by Northeastern University, Snapchat does not work to fact check the information that is shared on the platform. There have been several instances of misinformation being published and proven incorrect without the company taking action to remove or correct the information, often waiting for the information to be removed from the platform organically when the time the content is to be shown expires.
Takeaways
There is little information available regarding what algorithms Snapchat uses as well as how exactly they are used. Not having this information available to the public reduces users' understanding of any ethical issues with the algorithms and their uses.
Snapchat does not fact check information that is shared publicly through users or companies, but, rather, depends on these creators to publish accurate information and follow the community guidelines.