Snapchat Stock Slides Lower, Nasdaq Under Pressure

Snapchat parent Snap Inc. slid 3.98% or 0.58 points, reversing its initial 4% rise on Wednesday morning.

The social media company’s advertising demand period had one fewer week this year. Luckily, Wall Street estimated the filter-based social media app would reach profitability in the fourth quarter. 

Many claim the decline came from its inability to catch up to its competitions, like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Revenue jumped 50% to $446.2 million in the third quarter. Snapchat had 210 million users in the same period.

On the other hand, Twitter Inc lost 3.19% or 1.28 points after it went down Tuesday morning. The microblogging company quickly recovered when they announced they went down for only 10 minutes for regular service testing.

Facebook Inc. took a significant blow when it lost 3.91% or 7.42 points.  

As a result, Nasdaq 100 remains under pressure, lowering 0.83% or 65.72 points.

On a better note, Google’s parent company Alphabet immediately leaped 0.56% or 6.92 points when it claimed “quantum supremacy.” The company recently reached a breakthrough for quantum computing.

Alphabet CEO Sunder Pichai announced the “superposition” compared to building the first rocket to leave the earth’s atmosphere. 

Social Media “Compromises” Global Democracy

Investors lost interest when an Open Markets Institute fellow Matt Stoller said tech companies like Snapchat are destroying democracy. Stoller proclaimed legislatures must eliminate Google and Facebook’s control over private information. 

He argued that the famous technology companies hoard advertising revenue that should be for quality journalism.  

Furthermore, he claimed the companies created dysfunctional information ecosystems, promoting disinformation and conspiracy theories. He recommended leaving the social media platform altogether and start creating alternatives.

He said more democratic media must help improve political participation. He considered transparency about political ads as a critical element to the change.

These media should work together to return quality journalism and “limit the damaging effects of disinformation.”