Snapchat Users Are Slamming the App for Potentially Monetizing Memories

For some Snapchat users, the best part about the app is how temporary it is. As in, videos, photos, and messages go away instead of remaining in a feed that will embarrass you to look back on in 10 years. Ahem, we're looking at you, Facebook. For other users, though, being able to keep some things, known as Snapchat Memories, is important. And they want to know how to backup Snapchat Memories before it's too late.

Some Snapchat users are also worried that their Memories will go away at some point, without warning. There's also the fear that Snapchat will start charging users to maintain their Memories on the app because of how much space those Memories might take up. Luckily, Snapchat has addressed everything when it comes to Memories, and we have all you need to know about keeping those heartfelt and embarrassing posts forever.

Snapchat Memories is where your photos, videos, and Stories are saved in a cloud. If you're worried that your Memories have not been backed up or your settings don't allow it, there are a few easy steps to follow to make sure everything is being saved in Snapchat's very own cloud for all of its users.

According to Snapchat's help section, you have to go to your profile. From there, click on the gear icon for settings. If you scroll down, you should see "Memories" under the "Features" section. Press on that, and then select "Smart Backup." This will let you backup your content on Snapchat so it's saved in Snapchat Memories. In most cases, Smart Backup will already be checked off for you.

Snapchat Memories is not going away, and users are still able to save their content in the cloud provided by Snapchat. However, according to the BBC, users with more than five gigabytes will have to pay to keep those Memories available in the app. This means users who have years' worth of posts that they want to keep around on the app will have to pay Snapchat to keep those Memories available to them.

Five gigabytes of storage, according to Roamless, could get some Snapchat users a lot of Snaps. In some cases, it could translate to around 5,000 Snaps, but it also depends on the length of the Snaps and how much data each one takes. And for a lot of users, it means paying to keep important memories alive in Snapchat Memories.

Users can download content off of their accounts to keep in their own clouds, of course. But the idea of paying for Snapchat Memories, even if the first five gigabytes are free, did not sit well with users. One Snapchat user shared a TikTok with a video of her father and wrote that, at least in her Snapchat Memories, he is still alive. That is, until the app starts to charge her to keep the video there.

Under the TikTok, another user wrote, "Remember when the internet used to be fun? Now they monetize EVERYTHING, even our memories."

"Bro Snapchat is becoming so money hungry," someone else commented.

Another user pointed out that although you can download your Snapchat content, it isn't quite the same thing.

"Yeah you can download them but your camera roll won't send you memories of that day," they wrote. "At least mine don't. For me it's about reliving that day and it can either put a smile on your face or a sad one. Then you go on about your day 'til next year. The ones that get it get."