Snapchat today began charging its users 99 cents to use some of its popular selfie filters, sparking outrage.
The filters, a relatively new feature, are replaced on a fairly consistent basis. Until now, the popular filters that Snapchat removed in favor of their replacements were inaccessible. Now the company is bringing some back — at a cost.
Some of Snapchat's users were (predictably) enraged, letting the company have it on Twitter:
wtf @Snapchat you guys are money whores af making a lens store mfftt
wtf snapchat has a lens store... im not paying a dollar to puke rainbows
WOW snapchat are such assholes making us pay for all our fav faces are you kidding me
Those snapchat bastards just wanted to charge us money the whole time
R u serious @Snapchat u greedy motherfuckers
Snapchat takes a, let's say, different approach on Twitter from most other companies. Instead of ignoring the angry posts or apologizing, the company retweeted them:
Selling selfie lenses, of course, is a good way for Snapchat to make money outside of advertising, introducing an alternative revenue source that will make it a bit easier for the company to justify its multi-billion dollar valuation. Snapchat also offers its users the ability to replay snaps at a cost as well.
According to a report in The Verge, Snapchat will always keep about seven selfie filters for free. It will offer 30 lenses for sale each day as well.