Of the top five social platforms, users trust Snapchat the most to protect their personal data and privacy, according to BI Intelligence's 2017 Digital Trust survey. In fact, they have more faith that Snapchat will protect their data than Facebook. One out of five people who use Snapchat picked the app as the top social platform for protecting user data and privacy. For Facebook, the ratio of users who ranked it as the most trustworthy with their data is closer to one in six.
The survey results are obviously a positive sign for Snapchat — privacy concerns, even if they’re just issues of perception, can be highly consequential. People may limit their activity or stop using an app if they fear their information will be mishandled, putting the platform at risk of losing ad dollars. Maintaining the trust of an audience is important for platforms to sustain growth, retention, and engagement.
In addition, a sense of privacy protection can drive users to interact more authentically with a platform. When users feel at ease and are confident their privacy is secure, they’re more likely to post, share, or send content that is genuine. Snapchat's environment encourages users to be more self-expressive and less self-conscious. Comparatively, Facebook users may feel the need to carefully curate posts that could be viewed by casual acquaintances, or friends of friends. Moreover, Snapchat has some of the least annoying ads in the biz, whereas Facebook's ads are most irksome.
Brands have an opportunity to connect with people on a deeper, more authentic level on platforms where users feel their information and privacy is well protected. Snapchat’s user base skews heavily toward younger generations, providing an opportunity to serve edgier ads to a more candid audience.
BI Intelligence’s Digital Trust survey examines consumers’ perception of major social platforms. It rates Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and LinkedIn on security, community, user experience, and content authenticity and shareability to help brands and marketers make informed decisions about what platforms to spend their marketing and branding dollars on. The full report will be available through BI Intelligence in May.
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