Snapchatters certainly don’t like the company messing with their stuff, and the processes that they’ve become increasingly accustomed to in the app.
Last week, Snap’s Bitmoji team announced an update to the way that people’s Bitmoji avatars would be presented in the app, including more advanced hair textures, face shading, and body proportions for their characters.
As per Bitmoji:
“Your Bitmoji can now have a bolder smile, a more astonished face when they’re surprised, and can express even the most subtle and nuanced emotions. Plus, we’re improving how you engage with your Bitmoji on Snapchat, like enhanced editing that allows you to modify your avatar in 3D, using zoom and rotating features to get a closer look.”
So, cool, right? Better looking, more technologically-evolved Bitmoji, aligned with the next generation of 3D interaction, in AR, the metaverse, etc.
Except, Snap users aren’t entirely happy with the update.
The new Bitmoji depictions look a lot different to the old versions in many cases, and Snap users are not happy with the way that their digital doppelgangers now look.
Which is no surprise. Snap users were also furious with the revamped app layout that the company launched back in 2018, so much so that Snap rolled it back, in order to re-think certain elements. Snap users were also none-too-pleased that its new My AI chatbot, which Snapchat made freely available to all users back in April, took up the top slot in their inbox, shifting down all of their other chats.
Given the key role that Snap plays in the interactive process for many users, facilitating more intimate chats with smaller groups of friends, it makes sense that there’s also a strong sense of ownership there, which prompts a level of protectionism over the app that they know and love.
But it probably makes things a little more difficult for the Snap dev team, who need to tread very carefully when rolling out new changes.
In any event, the Snapchat crew tends to settle in after a little while, so it’s unlikely to spark ongoing backlash and unrest. But so you know, your Snap avatar could look a little different next time you log in, and you might not like it.
