7 seats left:

Join us Dec. 1-3 in New Orleans for the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit

SECURE YOUR SEAT

Snapchat’s new font change triggers meltdown online

It’s not just you: Snapchat does suddenly look different.

Tucked away in an update deployed yesterday, the ephemeral photo messaging app completely changed the font on the contact list and Stories page, shifting away from Helvetica to a font called Avenir. (The texting toolbar font remains unchanged).

At least Snapchat is just being true to its whole modus operandi: Nothing lasts forever. Still, cue the freak out.

People didn’t care for the change, with 74 percent of nearly 3,000 mentions of it online trending negative according to Brandwatch. “Many negative mentions talk about how the new font makes the app look like another operating system or style of phone,” Kellan Terry, a Brandwatch analyst, told Digiday, as evidenced by these tweets:

Within the reactions, women accounted for 63 percent of negative feedback: The phrases “hate the new Snapchat font” and the “font is disgusting” was repeated more often by women than men.

Snapchat is the latest brand to cause a meltdown on social media because of a minor design tweak. It joins Spotify, which recently changed the color of its signature green, and Apple, which released a new font on iOS 9. Both changes were slammed online before people got used to it.

“Negative mentions will accumulate simply because updates alter user experience, no matter how slightly,” Terry said. “Users become comfortable with how an app works, and when an update changes anything, people go to social media to air their grievances.”

Snapchat didn’t immediately respond for comment.

More in Media

Forbes launches dynamic AI paywall as it ramps up post-search commercial diversification plans

For the latest Inside the publisher C-Suite series, Digiday spoke to Forbes CEO Sherry Phillips on its AI-era playbook, starting with its AI-powered dynamic paywall to new creator-led commercial opportunities.

Creators embrace Beehiiv’s push beyond newsletters

Creators are embracing Beehiiv’s new website, product and analytics tools to help them grow beyond the competitive newsletter space.

Illustration of a performer balancing money weights on a tightrope, symbolizing how brand safety tools help marketers maintain performance and control.

Media Briefing: Publishers turn to paid audience acquisition tactics to tackle traffic losses

Publishers facing declining organic traffic are buying audiences through paid ads and traffic arbitrage, and using AI tools to do it.