The US Government Using Snapchat To Distribute Vaccine Information?

Yes you read that right. The US Government has indeed taken to Snapchat for their vaccine efforts. In order to convince the younger generation to take the shot, a number of Snapchat Lenses that feature various members of the White House have been released. Other lenses even share information about the vaccine and how to apply or acquire it.

Among the newly released Snapchat filters, there are augmented reality lenses that feature the president, Joe Biden, the Vice President, Kamala Harris, Dr. Anthony Fauci and viral immunologist Kizzmekia Corbett, who answer questions about the vaccine. Moreover, there's even an augmented reality call from Harris, wherein you are shared a link to vaccines.gov, a site where Snapchat users can find the vaccination site nearest to them.

It has been reported that, while the US vaccine efforts are yielding good results, most people aged 24 and younger still aren't too keen on taking up the vaccine. Moreover, in order to meet the White House’s goals for vaccine distribution, it is vital that the younger segment be vaccinated as well.

Snapchat has reported reaching around 90% of 13-24 year-olds across the US. It is because of this fact and Snapchat’s observable rising influence that the Government chose to utilize the platform over any other.

While the government is also utilizing TIkTok and Instagram, they have focused more resources into creating dedicated AR lenses due to Snapchat’s incredible significance.

As of recent, Snapchat has been working hard to raise awareness of the importance of AR technology. The most recent reports have found that:

"AR adoption is tracking with the mobile usage boom we saw in the mid 2000s: By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users."

The reason this research was conducted was to highlight just how powerful AR could be for eCommerce. However, it also proposes limitless potential for information sharing and message production that is more likely to engage those of the younger age group.

Looking at these trends, the relevance of AR and lenses is only going to increase and interactive applications are on the rise. Let’s hope that Snapchat will also provide data on user engagement and vaccination records to show just how effective the Government's action was.

In the meantime, all we can do is wait. And maybe get vaccinated..