What’s the point of Snapchat?

Some of the biggest IPOs of recent years have been social media companies and Snapchat will be no exception, but it may be one dotcom gamble too many.
Snapchat is hard to define. It’s essentially an instant messaging app that deletes messages soon after they’ve been sent, hence reducing inhibitions and encouraging frivolity. A signature feature of the app is the ability to easily manipulate images prior to sending, especially by cleverly superimposing cartoon characteristics on top o