Snapchat, a young, rapidly growing messaging service, may have surpassed media veteran Facebook in photos shared daily, according to TechCrunch.
Snapchat's CEO Evan Spiegel said, the Los Angeles startup now shares 400 million "snaps" a day, up from 200 million in June. This figure surpasses the photo-sharing activity on both Facebook. Facebook users, by comparison, share 350 million photos a day.
However, Snapchat's "snaps" stat include photos and videos, while Facebook's number doesn't include videos. Snapchat's stats also include "broadcast" snaps, which is when a user "takes one photo and sends it to multiple recipients, turning one snap into many snaps."
The revelation prompted Mashable, a news website and technology blog, to declare the 2-year-old startup "neck and neck" with Facebook in photo shares as opposed to ahead.
"Facebook's number doesn't include videos," Mashable wrote. "It also doesn't count the 55 million photos shared daily to Facebook-owned Instagram, which would push Facebook above the 400 million mark, putting it on par with or slightly ahead of Snapchat - if you assume all 400 million "snaps" are photos, which probably isn't the case."
Mashable believes Snapchat will blow past Facebook in little to no time. The disappearing photo-sharing service is growing at a rapid pace and is more valuable than Facebook or any other competitor, according to Mashable.
Last week, it was reported that Snapchat turned down $3 billion from Facebook; it may be seeking a valuation closer. Spiegel chose to decline the acquisition because he reportedly believes Snapchats rapid growth in only two years may be more valuable than the investment offers proposed.
