Apparently, generic puppy-ear filters just don’t cut it anymore, Snapchat enables users to *drumroll please* create their own lens filters. That’s right! In the same fashion that you can make a custom geo-filter for the app, you can now create an interactive personalized lens of your own. Talk about giving the people what they want. Or, giving them something they didn’t know they needed. Or, just something they straight-up didn’t need.
Custom lenses start at $9.99 and increase in price based on the size of location and duration of time you want your lens to span. From their desktop or straight from the app, users can choose from over 150 templates to start from, covering categories like weddings and birthdays, and customize with effects and text. Just go to “Settings” and select “Filters and Lenses” to get started on your very own. If you’re a procrastinator, don’t worry. As long as you submit your lens within three hours of your event, it should get approved in time.
Interestingly, Snapchat notes that the feature is not intended for brands to use as an advertising tool and will not approve them in the submission process. This comes as a surprise since the company is transparent about introducing this feature as a means to diversify revenue. In an attempt to overcome competition from Instagram and Facebook, Snapchat believes that the custom lenses will differentiate the app and draw users to it. With the introduction of a new interface, new fonts, and the lens customization feature, it seemed that Snap was headed in the right direction with their fourth-quarter earnings surpassing expectations for the first time. Things were going well for the brand until it took a major hit thanks to a little tweet from Kylie Jenner.
The implications of this feature cannot be fully measured yet, although it seems that the app remains strong with a user growth rate of 5% last quarter. With the rise of AR, especially thanks to Snapchat, it is important for user’s to be aware of the line between reality and fantasy. Forbes contributor, Curtis Silver, reminds us that lenses and AR enable us to disassociate with reality and can have a deep psychological price. He remarks that “Snapchat takes our world, the one we live and work in, and filters it into a reality that simply does not exist.” As lenses and filters become more ingrained in our everyday lives, it becomes harder for us to see ourselves as, well, our real selves and easier to imagine the glorified, glowing version we see in our Snapchat camera.
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