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Snapchat job posting hints at big 2016 election plans

Snapchat job posting hints at big 2016 election plans

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The company wants 'creative storytellers' to help users experience the campaign trail

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Snapchat is putting out a call for anyone interested in joining the ephemeral messaging company as a "content analyst." The job is actually far more interesting than its title would have you believe; Snapchat is specifically looking for people who want to help cover the 2016 election. "We're looking for political junkies and news aficionados to join our team in NYC to help review Snaps that are submitted to Our Story events, and cover the 2016 presidential race and other news events for Snapchat," reads the position's description.

So part of the job is taking on the role of snap moderator, but whoever gets hired will also be tasked with sharing stories of their own with Snapchat's millions of users. When not assembling stories with user-generated photos and video clips, the content analyst will "snap the excitement of the campaign trail — the candidates, the characters, the drama," according to the posting.

Snapchat aims to deliver a unique and firsthand view of the 2016 race

Snapchat isn't yet saying exactly how it plans to handle 2016 election coverage; sharing self-produced content through its own Discover channel is one obvious path. And there's huge potential to involve its users with a colossal Our Story that runs through the campaign season. Regardless of how Snapchat goes about it, the message is clear: Snapchat wants to be a major player in the 2016 election — and it could prove a vital important tool as candidates try to lure in younger voters and match President Obama's success with that demographic. We've seen that Rand Paul is already a fan.

In late April, it was reported that Snapchat hired Peter Hamby to lead its news division. Hamby "developed a reputation for experimenting with new technology" at former employer CNN, according to The New York Times. So putting him at the helm to lead its content analysts, who will also "be the foundation" of Snapchat's fairly small team, is a sensible choice. Will Snapchat attempt to break news and beat outlets like CNN, The New York Times, Politico, Vice, BuzzFeed News, and others to the punch on big stories? Perhaps, but the company's grander ambition seems to be helping people experience a political race in a way that could be difficult for other companies and mediums to rival. Snapchat's still laying the groundwork right now, but the next few months should be very interesting.