User Outcry and Ethical Dilemmas: The Backlash to Snapchat's New Memories Fee
Snapchat, the popular photo and video messaging application, has announced a significant policy change that will introduce paid storage plans for users who wish to keep large archives of their saved content, known as Memories. Since its launch in 2016, the Memories feature, which stores photos and videos originally intended to disappear, has been a complimentary cloud storage service. However, parent company Snap Inc. has confirmed a gradual global rollout that will cap the free storage limit at 5 gigabytes (GB), a decision driven by the massive growth of the feature, which now holds over one trillion saved Snaps globally.
The new structure is designed to monetize the platform's infrastructure costs and provide a new revenue stream beyond its core advertising business. While the vast majority of users, those with less than 5GB of saved content, will not be immediately affected, the change directly impacts long term and heavy users who have accumulated thousands of photos and videos over the years. These users must now choose between paying a recurring subscription fee to retain their digital archives or downloading their content to an external device to avoid potential deletion.
For users exceeding the 5GB threshold, Snap is offering new paid Memories Storage Plans. The entry level option provides 100GB of storage for $1.99 per month. Subscribers to the existing Snapchat+ premium service, priced at $3.99 per month, will now see their storage automatically boosted to 250GB. For those with exceptionally large archives, a new Snapchat Platinum tier will offer a massive 5 terabytes (TB) of storage. The company has acknowledged that the transition from a free service is difficult but insists the fees are necessary to allow for continued investment and improvement of the Memories feature for the community.
The announcement has triggered a strong backlash across social media, with many long term users expressing frustration and accusing the company of being "greedy" for suddenly charging for a service that had been free for years. Critics argue that users who have entrusted Snapchat with years of personal content are now being unfairly pressured to pay to protect their memories. To mitigate immediate impact, Snap is providing a 12 month temporary storage grace period for any Memories that exceed the new 5GB limit, allowing users ample time to either upgrade to a paid plan or export their saved media to their personal devices. This move aligns Snapchat with other tech giants like Google and Apple, which also charge for expanded cloud storage.