14 DAY TRIAL // Controversial messaging startup Snapchat is looking to involve itself in the presidential race next year, as the company wants to employ people that can create and share content related to the big political happening.
There are two important ways in which Snapchat could influence the upcoming US presidential election, given the big impact social media had on the previous two election runs. Snapchat’s involvement might be making the candidate look more relatable and it could also attract the youth’s vote.
So, with this in mind, the company has published a job ad under the “Content Analyst - Politics & News” title.
Snapchat is looking to hire
“We’re looking for political junkies and news aficionados to join our team in NYC to help review Snaps that are submitted to Our Story events, and cover the 2016 presidential race and other news events for Snapchat,” the announcement says.
The applicants should be “willing to travel to exotic locales like Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio and Florida”. The people submitting their CVs for evaluation aren’t required to have a Journalism degree, but they have to be “advocates for free expression who aren’t easily offended and are able to remain objective and neutral while evaluating potentially controversial content.”
It seems pretty obvious that Snapchat has a growing interest in expanding political content, especially in the wake of CNN reporter Peter Hamby becoming the company’s head of news.
His involvement might have a great impact on the Discover feature, where media companies are able to influence what kind of stories they are feeding Snapchat users.
Is politics Snapchat's next big focus?
Furthermore, some politicians have already showed their interest in Snapchat. For example, ex-Maryland governor Marin O’Malley used to communicate with followers about his possible presidential campaign via this chat service.
The startup launched the Discover feature last year in an attempt to offer in-house videos and content coming from National Geographic, VICE, Food Network, and others. And it appears that Snapchat is starting to increasingly focus on content.
Political content could be an important base for the insertion of advertisements, both from political candidates and companies supporting them, which in turn would push revenue for Snapchat.