You know something is a big deal when you look forward to it more than your birthday. For me, that something, is Diwali—the “festival of lights.” This ancient Hindu festival signifies the triumph of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and light over darkness.
On October 23rd of this year, Snapchat users around the globe got a glimpse of Diwali festivities thanks to this transitory picture-sharing app. Snapchat introduced a collections of snaps appropriately titled “Diwali in India,” commemorating the five day Indian festival.
What was special about these snaps was the fact that the collection was part of Snapchat’s “Our Story” feature, which can be found in the “Live” section under “Recent Updates.” This feature allows users to collaboratively post pictures and videos taken at the same live event on a common thread for the entire Snapchat community to view. Any user present at the event within a particular geolocation can have a hand in adding to the content stream. Snapchat then proceeds to curate this content and create a story surrounding the event. This feature protects the user’s identity as it does not reveal who captured the image or video, it only displays that they were taken at the same event.
One of my favourite snaps from the collection:
VP of Communications at Snapchat, Mary Ritti, states, “We receive a lot of hours of content and curate to create the best story.” Ritti notes, “It lets people feel like they are actually at the event, even if they are across the world.” Snapchat illustrated just that on Diwali. Not only was the company monitoring and listening to conversations on social media channels, they were doing their part to amplify positive sentiments from users.
Below are some of Snapchat’s retweets from users expressing their appreciation for the “Diwali in India” collection.
Snapchat users in India did a remarkable job of capturing footage of fireworks lighting up the dark night skies, traditional prayer ceremonies taking place, as well as vibrant rangolis adorning the entrances of homes.
Ritti mentions that the company receives a substantial amount of requests asking to cover unique events around the globe that are of great significance to users. It’s amazing to see how a platform like Snapchat is taking actionable steps to ensure requests from users are being delivered, and this time, the result was allowing users all over the world to get a dose of Indian culture.
Since Snapchat launched its “Our Story” feature in late August of this year, the platform has hosted several music festivals and sports games. Brands and events can now use “Our Story” to broadcast live-streamed videos and photos to reach a mass audience, creating an opportunity for monetization. Snapchat has taken the concept of engaging users to a whole new level—including those that aren’t physically there. Hats off to them!