Snapchat’s augmented reality brand culture: sponsored filters and lenses as digital piecework

ABSTRACT

On the social media platform Snapchat users share images and videos that disappear after a set amount of time. Snapchat has developed an augmented reality brand culture that embeds brands within this live sharing of images and video on the platform. This advertising model is culturally significant because rather than ship finished ads, Snapchat optimizes the distribution of ad-making tasks. The advertising model is organized around sponsored filters and lenses, which are made available to targeted users in specific times and places. Users take these filters and lenses and apply them to their selfie-taking practises to augment their face and surroundings with brand logos and paraphernalia. These filters are often encoded with hetero-sexy beauty norms (digital make-up) which influence the way users engage with, and apply these filters depending on their preferred gender. In this article we develop a critical account of the cultural significance of this brand culture, arguing that Snapchat combines features of social and logistical media platforms. We propose that Snapchat creates a new kind of digital piecework, optimizing the serving of small ad-making tasks to users. In doing so, the platform joins together the participatory culture and data-processing power of digital media in a novel way.

KEYWORDS:

• Snapchat
• social media
• branding
• augmented reality
• advertising
• labour
• selfies

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kiah Hawker

Kiah Hawker is a PhD candidate in the School of Communication and Arts at The University of Queensland.

Nicholas Carah

Nicholas Carah is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Arts at The University of Queensland.