While 2016 was the year Snapchat moved from sparkly new thing to serious social contender, some reports are casting doubt on the platform's longevity.

Oh Snap

The survey from Fluent asked 3000 US adults their thoughts on the upstart platform. Opinion was evenly split on Snapchat's long term appeal: 48% consider the platform a fad, 52% say Snapchat's here to stay.

However optimism increases with younger users – 68% of those aged between 18 – 24 years consider Snapchat's future more bright.

More than three quarters of all Snapchat users fall into this age bracket.

Snap it up

However, one third of respondents said they don't expect to be using Snapchat in five years time. While 50% said they won't be Snapping 10 years from now.

Significantly, just 9.4% of users never skip ads, while 44% always skip ads.

That figure rises to 50% for users in the lucrative 18 – 24 demographic. 

Who''s kicking goals?

Snapchat remains the realm of the influencer and celebrity, more than brands. Just over 38% of respondents follow publisher accounts on Snapchat, while a slightly higher number (42.1%) follow sports accounts such as ESPN.

However more than half of respondents (51.4%) follow internet celebrities on Snapchat. This is higher than the 48.1% that follow TV celebrities.