Another superficial opinion about the Snap Inc IPO. Mine.

Who wants Snap stocks? Are we living a revamped internet super-bubble? Whatever it is, I think the point is another. Is Snap going to play a major role in the evolution of our behaviors? Let’s talk about this.

Profits? No, thanks. Power.

Snapchat is the most popular social network between 12 and 24, so if you really want to open a conversation with the people who will drive the world by 2030, then one of your friends should be Snap.

Profits? No, thanks. 👉 You.

Computer vision and natural language understanding are real. Most of the (almost) 10.000 snaps made every second tell who we are, what we do think and how we do feel. Basically, Snap is one of the companies who owns our networked emotion. Don’t think that you can ignore it just because you are a Facebook power user. Period.

Profits? Yes, please.

In a world where tapping the BUY NOW button may depend on instant emotions, advertising through keywords may not be the only big deal for the years to come. Calling people to action based on how they feel now – or in the last few days – is on the cutting edge of the intelligence all the brands would pay for. With such great cognitive super-powers behind the scenes, monetizing might not be a major issue.

So, what’s the point?

We live in an amazing world. Companies that did not existed 10 years ago, now are shaping our life through the network. In fact, we are actively changing the way we interact each other by adopting this and that. We create value by accepting value. We are all determining the Snap hype – not just the traders – because we all have fun with it. But it’s not just fun: it’s a communication tool, for us with our community and for brands with us… and that’s where profits come from. But they are a consequence.

One of my greatest mentors once said ‘profit is not the purpose of a company, is the tool to achieve something greater’. Wow.

One real matter of fact is that also the people who do not use Snapchat know Snapchat. And the same is for Facebook, WhatsApp, Gmail and so on. We all made the Snap IPO go real. We are all trading our choice and, in fact, we already traded.

What’s happening at NYSE is just logistics.

Riccardo Zanardelli is an engineer and an independent digital art researcher. His work focus at the intersection of business, technology and (sometimes) art. Some of his artworks have been featured at the Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Montreal, NewMuseum’s Rhizome ArtBase (NY), Interfaces Monthly (an event by the Barbican, The Trampery and FishIsland Lab, London) and on the Microsoft’s Cognitive Services website. He lives in Italy, he is a husband and father of two.