Have you ever watched one of your buddies' Snaps on Snapchat and thought, “Gee, that's super cool, but I wish I could see more of it?" Well, good news: On Nov. 23, Snapchat launched Story Explorer, a feature that provides a whole new way to explore your favorite Snapchat Stories. While it's true that the new feature doesn't involve collecting trophies or puking rainbows, odds are that once you start Exploring, you'll never want to go back. Progress marches on and time waits for no one, right?
“Story Explorer relies on technology developed by our research team to provide more depth to every Snap in a Story,” the app's developers write on the Snapchat blog. “When you see a moment that inspires or excites you, simply swipe up to see more Snaps of that same moment — from every perspective.” I'm unclear on exactly how it works, but I'm guessing it's basically a fancy schmancy, “see more related Snaps” kind of feature — swiping up will let you see other Snaps or Stories that cover that same event from other users. Indeed, writes the company, “It's the first time you'll be able to experience that incredible game-winning dunk from thousands of perspectives throughout the stadium — or feel like you're right there on the scene when breaking news unfolds.”
Said Snapchat Chief Executive Evan Spiegel to the Los Angeles Times about the new feature:
The basic idea was that we don't provide any depth inside Stories — you're on the red carpet. Then you're at a concert for a split-second. It was a a feeling of “show me more,” and we're fortunate that we just get so much video submitted to us that we had the ability from a content perspective to provide depth.
Cool, right? However, there are also a few catches: Right now, Story Explorer is only available on the New York and Los Angeles Live Stories (it is in the test phase, after all, and Snapchat itself is based in LA); furthermore, Story Explorer isn't available for all the Stories happening in those two cities. Spiegel explained to the LA Times that Snapchat employees “pick the interesting situations highlighted in a Live Story.” Within those chosen Live Stories, though, users will be able to swipe up to see somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 more related Stories; and if there are even more Stories available after that, you can swipe up again to explore even more. Swiping down brings you back to the main stream.
According to Snapchat, there are plans to roll the feature out across “many more Stories very soon,” so fear not, Snappers who are interested in neither New York nor Los Angeles live events — you'll likely have your pick of many more Stories in many more locations soon.
Check out the video below for more. Happy Snapping!
Image: Snapchat/YouTube
