In an effort to steal some steam from another very popular social network, Snapchat added a brand-new feature that gives concertgoers — and their pals who couldn't make it — a new way to get in on the action.
Billboard reports that the new feature, Crowd Surf, gives Snapchat users the ability to share and enjoy concerts in a whole new way.
Snapchat developed a way for artificial intelligence to figure out when certain snaps have been recorded at the same place, like a concert, by listening in on audio. From there, anyone scrolling through Snapchat can flip between the various streams, so a view of the stage from the mezzanine can get stitched to a view from the pit to what the whole scene looks like from the nosebleed section. Another plus? Crowd Surf offers up a way to bypass the standard 10-second Snapchat clip, so videos don't get chopped off in the middle of a chorus.
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According to Billboard, users will know when the feature is available when a "spinning phone icon appears in the bottom right corner." When snappers see that, they can switch between all the different views at a particular event. For now, TechCrunch reports that Snapchat is focusing on concerts, but it wouldn't be surprising if the feature rolls out to sporting events and maybe even visits to amusement parks. In theory, you could vicariously live through everyone's snaps at the new Disneyland parade or a basketball game with just a few taps and swipes.
Snapchat hopes that the new feature will bring in new users and encourage existing ones to submit content to public feeds. However, TechCrunch adds that it's only a matter of time before Instagram introduces something similar as its own retort in the two giants' ongoing back-and-forth battle for social-media supremacy.
Check out Snapchat's Crowd Surf in action below.
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