Snapchat, the app that only ever has a couple of notifications - and weirdly has a history that I can do absolutely nothing with as each and every message is deleted.

Spiegel says that in the beginning, Snapchat was less about disappearing selfies and more about letting people capture a moment that they can share freely online with whomever they want, without considering broader consequences. In a world where everything on Facebook or Twitter could become part of their permanent Internet persona, impermanence had value to young users. “Before that, most of social media stuff, you take a picture and give [it] to everyone on earth,” he says. “Our idea was not that grandiose. It was simple. Let’s just take a shot at restoring some context” to the pictures we exchange online with friends.

Excellent interview with Snapchat's founder on Bloomberg.