Our recent research into Snapchat shows that its uses misleading notification. This is not legally allowed. Namely, the European Digital Services Act prohibits misleading and manipulative design on online platforms. The research serves as input for possible enforcement actions by the Dutch Authority for Consumer and Markets (Autoriteit Consument & Markt) and supports our advice to include the regulation of attention-grabbing notifications in the Digital Fairness Act.

The research shows that users generally like notifications when they receive a message from another users or when they need to complete an important action on the platform. Notifications can also be useful in order to stay informed about things you are interested in. They ensure that you don't miss important information, can respond quickly when necessary, or simply have a nice social interaction.

Some of Snapchats notifications make users curious, but ultimately turn out to be less interesting than they initially seemed. Some notifications also seem purely intended to attract attention, as they are mainly sent when users don’t use the platform often.

This fits with the broader trend of how notifications are used by platforms: over the years, there has been a shift from notifications that keep you informed to notifications that grab your attention. Platforms benefit from users staying on their website or app for as long as possible, because they earn revenue from advertising. And the longer you scroll, the more advertisements they can show you.

Therefore, platforms are increasingly using notifications that they can generate indefinitely. Think of notifications for recommended content, popular topics, or other suggestions. We have entered an era where platforms compete for our attention, flooding us with notifications. Some notifications are even misleading in order to get users to click on it. This constantly distracts you and tempts you to open your phone, and you end up spending more time on your phone than you actually wanted to.

Why this research?

Our previous research into manipulative design already showed that Snapchat uses recapture notifications (notifications intended to bring users back to the platform) and fake friend notifications (notifications that look like a message from another user, but are not). It also showed that other techniques are used to attract and retain attention, including Snapstreaks, infinite scroll, and personalized recommendations. Together, these techniques create the ideal conditions for excessive smartphone use. Snapchat is widely used by young people, who may be particularly vulnerable to this practice. That is why we felt it was important to further investigate Snapchats notifications and gain insight into the impact they have on users. This will enable us to substantiate possible enforcement actions and provide clear policy advice.

How did we approach this?

We conducted two sub-studies:

1. Case study: We monitored Snapchat notifications for six weeks and applied six different conditions, based on the frequency of opening the app and whether or not we followed other accounts. We mapped the different types of notifications, the scope of notification, and the potentially misleading notifications. We also looked for indications of whether the frequency of app use influenced the number of notifications received.

2. Qualitative research: We conducted thirteen 50-minute semi-structured interviews with social media users, including Snapchat users. This provided insight into the experiences, needs, behavior, and expectations of both notifications in general and specific Snapchat notifications. This gave us an idea of the impact that notifications have and how misleading they actually are.

Key findings

• From the 109 notifications we received in total, we categorized 39 as misleading. Most notifications were about Spotlight videos and Stories. The notifications were categorized as misleading if they contained false information (e.g., “check out this post from someone you follow”—even though we weren't following anyone), resembled a personal message from other users, or were incorrectly labeled as being “time-sensitive”.

• We received most notifications when we did not open Snapchat and did not follow any other accounts. This feels contradictory: you would expect to receive more notifications the more users you follow. This is an indication that the notifications are used as recapture notifications: intended to get the user to the platform, especially when their usage is low.

• Users indicate that badges (red dots that indicate something is new in the app) trigger them to click. They want a tidy screen and no open tasks. Some users have therefore disabled these in their settings.

• Users have no control over the in-app badges (red dots within the app). These appeared every time we opened the app, for example on the Stories icon, the Spotlight icon, and the Friend Suggestions icon. Even if users have notifications about recommended content turned off, a badge still appears on the Spotlight icon. Clicking on it brings up an endless scroll of new recommended videos. This may be a tactic by Snapchat to keep users on the app.

• Many social media users are motivated to reduce their smartphone usage. One of the tactics they use to do this is to turn off notifications. These distract them and unexpectedly lead them to look at other things on their phone than they intended. They often find notifications disruptive, especially when they are about recommended content or content posted by accounts they follow. Notifications are often turned off entirely, rather than specifically per notification (which is difficult and time-consuming).

• Some of the notifications displayed did not meet expectations, which indicates a misleading practice. Sometimes users thought that notifications about Stories and Spotlight videos were personal messages, when they were in fact content from recommended or followed accounts. Some friend suggestions were also interpreted as friend requests. Finally, notifications did not always lead to what they referred to.

What’s next?

We will inform Snapchat of our research and contact the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets to stop Snapchat's use of misleading notifications. We will also send our report to policymakers so that they can take the results into account when developing the Digital Fairness Act. The purpose of this law is to tighten the rules around manipulative and addictive design on online platforms. As a user, you can also take action yourself: if you feel that you are being manipulated or misled by Snapchat, you can file a complaint with the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets. You can also ask Snapchat a question about this.

Read the full report here