Snapchat, a Los Angeles-based startup that makes a mobile application for sending disappearing photo messages, is the fashion world's favourite appPatrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
Users of the popular social messaging tool Snapchat woke up this morning to find they could catch a glimpse of life in the West Bank.
The move comes a day after the popular social networking app chose to feature stories from Tel Aviv without mentioning Palestinians, sparking complaints by users.
Snapchat – which according to its own metrics has around 100 million daily active users – allows users to take and send pictures or videos, called snaps, that expire after having been viewed once. Users can also post their snaps to their stories, which let their friends see them an unlimited number of times for 24 hours.
Sometimes the app curates snaps from a certain area, or for a special occasion, and posts them for all users to see for a day. Previously the stories have shown people celebrating Canada Day, music festivals, or daily life in cities around the world.
The West Bank story, like previous cities' stories, acts as a cultural snapshot of the area. Speaking mostly English, users show off their neighbourhoods in cities like Bethlehem and Ramallah, as well as examples of local culture from food to important architecture.
The story also shows the Bethlehem checkpoint to Israel, as well as some Israeli settlements. Nobody refers to the conflict overtly in the snap, though one user points toward what she calls the "apartheid wall."
The West Bank story is being counted as a victory by social media users who objected earlier this week to the Tel Aviv story showing birthday parties and weddings, but did not include anything about life to the south in Gaza.
Users, especially from Palestine, took to Twitter to express their outrage at the company..
"I wonder if we can get a Gaza story tomorrow to keep things in perspective," one user tweeted.
In response, the Tel Aviv story on Wednesday finished with a message from Snapchat stating "Heads up! West Bank is Live Tomorrow."
Snapchat users greeted Thursday's West Bank story more enthusiastically.
"@Snapchat's #WestBankLive gives Palestine more dignity than any news network has," tweeted one person.