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Snapchat’s Gender-Swap and Baby Filters Doubled App Downloads
But can the company build on the momentum?
Last month, Snapchat achieved the kind of virality most companies can only dream of.
On May 8, Snapchat released a photo filter (a “Lens” in Snapchat parlance) that, by rounding a users’ face and smoothing away their wrinkles, transforms them into a toddler. Over the next two days, Snapchat also debuted a pair of gender-swap lenses, which either gave users a square jaw and stubble to look more stereotypically masculine, or a dolled-up, soft glow to look more feminine.
The lenses unleashed a torrent of content, mostly people showing the world what they’d look like if they flipped genders. Men “joked” about being attracted to the female versions of their bros, while women trolled their boyfriends with their rugged good looks. Many engaged in catfishing “pranks” (some of which backfired spectacularly) and others professed to wanting to literally go screw themselves.
