Snapchat's daily video views soar to 6 billion, closing in on Facebook

Mobile app Snapchatbecamefamous for its one-on-one messagingcomplete with itsblink-and-you'll-miss-it photosbut nowit is booming with video traffic, averagingabout six billion video views every day.

Shannon Kelly, aspokeswomanfor Snapchat,confirmed the numberwithCBC News in a written statement on Monday, but would not provide any further comment.

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According to areport in the Financial Times,the company's videonumbers have more than tripled in the past six months. Last May, Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's CEO, told Bloombergthat the app's users were viewing more than twobillion videos a day.

Snapchat's most recentnumbersintensifythe video competition between it andsocial media giant Facebook.

A spokesperson for Facebook told CBC News that it averages eight billion video views on a daily basis, watched by more than 500 million people. These most recent results were announced in the company's third quarter earnings highlights, released last week.

Facebook's numbers have doubled since April,whenthey claimed therewere fourbillion video views on the platform per day.

There are sizeable differences between the two companies. Facebook says they average around one billion users on a daily basis, while Snapchathas a smaller audience of about 100 million users a day.

And while Facebook users can view its video on both their desktops and mobile phones, Snapchatonly operates on mobile.

From chat to social

Snapchat is capitalizing onthe immense demand for video on social media platforms, shifting from its messaging origins to a full-out social media platform.

The company recently introduced newfeaturesto the app includingvideo effectsthat runs video fast, in slow motionandin reverse, as well asreal-time video lensesthat lets usersshoot hearts out of their eyeballs orvomit rainbows.

Snapchat also recently introducedLive Stories, allowing its users to contributephotos and video to a common media presentation surrounding an event or physical place.

In 2013,Snapchatreportedlyrejected an all-cashacquisition offer fromFacebook, that would have valued the company at $3 billion or more.