Is Snapchat only used for sexting? We asked 5,000 people to find out

The methodology of the survey is somewhat weak. Snapchat has only been popular for about a year, whereas sexting has been common for 5+ years now. Not only does this mean that users have had a much longer time to sext via SMS than snapchat, but because it's a self-reported survey it's even worse; users are much more likely to admit to something the longer ago it happened in the past, which skews the data even further. It would have been much better to ask users whether they had sexted within the past six months or whatever.

It seems to reason that people who use SnapChat for sexting are doing so to hide the fact that they're sexting, so they might be less likely to admit to it (even on an anonymous survey). Someone who uses text messaging may feel less compelled to hide it at all. This would be especially true for kids (under 18) since you also ask the age on the survey.<p>Not sure how big a role this might actually play in the results.

No way I'm trusting this informal survey unless they have a plausible, data-backed explanation for the supposed huge gender disparity in sexting.<p>The only halfway plausible explanation is that the 3.4% of men who are gay or bi all sext with each other. In other words, a large number of the respondents lied and the data is invalid.<p>That said, anecdotal evidence (the people I talk do every day) strongly indicates that people <i>are</i> in fact occasionally using Snapchat for other things than sexting

&#62; Frequently cited uses were to “send funny pictures to my friends” or “make silly faces for my friends” or “send jokes to my friends.”<p>I don't mean to be a grumpy old man, but this seems even more pointless than usual. If it's <i>not</i> being used for sexual photos, then it's surely a fad that's going to die in a few months.<p>All that other crap can be done via normal messaging; there's precious little reason to use Snapchat except that it's (briefly, for now) the popular new thing.

Survata is a YC company that uses those spammy "survey walls", forcing users to answer a survey to get content they want. This data is garbage.

Interesting relevant article: <a href="http://blog.garrytan.com/tenth-grade-tech-trends-my-survey-data-says-s" rel="nofollow">http://blog.garrytan.com/tenth-grade-tech-trends-my-survey-d...</a><p>And its HN discussion: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5027306" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5027306</a><p>I performed a few Google searches on Snapchat. I was very surprised to see the fanaticism around it being used by young people for Sexting alone. The above article paints a much different picture.

Wow, a lot of denial on this particular topic. Let's be real. Even facebook is used a lot for hookups. All mediums will have sex on them because we are sexual by nature. So of course this medium will be exploited fully and denied in public because it's a sensitive topic. Why dwell? Who cares? Are we such prudes?<p>And come on, just asking them? Go ask the guys in the head shop what kind of pipes they are selling. Tobacco pipes of course. But we didn't just fall off the turnip truck.

Can somebody explain to me what is stopping someone from hitting the power + home button simultaneously and creating a photo of whatever is in the screen effectively working around the "self destruct" nature of Snapchat?

I've received ~10 snapchats a day for the past month, and I have never received a sexting photo via snapchat. Instead my friends send pictures of: food, landscapes, people they are with, pets, etc...<p>Basically the point of Snapshot is to share mundane photos without the other person being able to share with their friends all the boring photos you send them throughout the day.

In terms of the comparison with SMS, this survey also seems to miss that sexting via text (words) is very different than sexting via snapchat (pictures). I'm sure a much higher percentage of the population is more comfortable with the former than latter, which doesn't make the comparison all that surprising.

It's common wisdom that Snapchat appeals particularly to those <i>under</i> the age of 18. This study focused only on "respondents aged 18 to 29".<p>What people (read: the media) really want to know is "are teens sexting with Snapchat?" Naturally, it's harder to get survey results for that demographic.

Nice to see the old maxim still holds true: "Every title phrased as a question can be answered with: no."

Not only. I just started using it a few weeks ago and I can say it has legitimate uses outside of sexting. The ability to write on an image or draw on it is quite useful.

imho there is something here with a neural correlate related to gambling, e.g. I send my mom/boss/teacher a funny face picture or I send my crush a love note with an expiration date and I can cash in on the thrill with a low chance of the risk of exposure