Snapchat is this year's convention revolution

CLEVELAND — On Thursday night, the Republican Party will crown Donald Trump the nominee, and 125,000 red, white and blue balloons will rain from the sky. It’s a made-for-TV moment — but this year for the first time, Snapchat will own the night.

“We’re absolutely going to snap it,” Audrey Scagnelli, press secretary for the GOP convention, told USA TODAY.

To “snap” is a verb that describes the use of Snapchat — an application making its convention debut this year — that let users send pictures and snippets of video directly to friends or post on a personal feed. Snapchat also produces coverage of major happenings through a feature called “Live Stories,” which consists of a collection of curated photos and videos created by Snapchat users attending the same events.

Oddly, it’s all temporary. Photo and video messages generally disappear after one view (though there are special ways to replay or take screenshots). Stories can be replayed an unlimited number of times — but they disappear after 24 hours.

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“We’re working to really utilize that opportunity,” Scagnelli said. “There is so much that takes place here. … Your friends enjoy seeing those moments, and we’re excited to share some of those backstage, behind-the-scenes, you-can-only-find-it-here on our Snapchat.”

Blake Glinn, a 20-year-old member of College Republicans at Michigan State University, won’t be at the event, but he said he is excited to watch the convention through Snapchat’s live feed.

Glinn said Snapchat offers a quick, unedited look at major events. “You feel like you are there,” he said. “You feel like you are more connected to the event by seeing it through someone else’s eyes.”

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He has used Snapchat in the past to document the primaries and push friends and followers to the polls. “When they see someone their age or in their friend group and they are going out and doing something like that, it will definitely spark some interest for them to engage in politics,” he said.

Scagnelli said the convention’s Snapchat account will give viewers unique access to what it’s like putting on “one of the largest political events in the world.” The account will also feature "takeovers" — giving prominent Republicans and convention staff access to the account for a period of time to show the event from their perspectives.

“We’ll have content on our Snapchat account that you won’t be able to find anywhere else,” Scagnelli said.

The Democratic convention will also be using the platform.

“The 2016 Democratic National Convention will use Snapchat to bring the convention experience to the viewer’s fingertips,” convention spokesman Morgan Finkelstein told USA TODAY in an email. "Snapchat will provide a ton of different perspectives — from a delegate on the floor, to what it’s like to be backstage during the big event and everything in-between.”

Finkelstein said that geofilters — or image overlays that share a message or details about the user’s location through graphic designs —will appear throughout the city during the Democratic convention.

From the moment attendees arrive in Philadelphia (via train or plane), they’ll be able to add a filter saying where they are.

“Around town, convention-goers will see a ton of different filters celebrating our city, starting from their arrival at the train station or airport throughout the entire convention experience,” Finkelstein said.

But it isn’t just the host organizations using Snapchat.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign has purchased eight geofilters for the Republican convention in the convention hall and throughout Cleveland.

The Clinton campaign filters focus on an anti-Trump message, including one that uses Ohio’s own Republican governor against the party’s presumptive nominee. Clinton’s official account will do a “recap” of the convention and a feature on their voter registration outreach.

Donald Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told USA TODAY the campaign had plans to utilize the medium, too, but did not respond to an additional request for details about what the strategy will be.

Clinton’s primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, was the first candidate to use Snapchat geofilters ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

Following the Vermont senator’s Snapchat debut, other presidential candidates got into snapping during the primaries. They launched personal accounts and bought political advertisements in an attempt to reach a younger audience.

The app is like catnip for Millennials. According to Russ Caditz-Peck, a spokesman for Snapchat, one-third of Millennials likely to vote currently use Snapchat.

Kegan Ferguson, a 21-year-old member of college Democrats at Indiana University, uses Snapchat in similar ways. During the primaries, he promoted rallies and voter registration through the app.

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“I am able to follow along with friends in other states, people in my university campus and Indiana, even, that are out registering voters, signing people up and having events,” he said. “It allows you to connect with people over politics in a way you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.”

For Ferguson, who won’t attend the convention in Philadelphia, Snapchat’s most remarkable feature is the unscripted, behind-the-scenes look.

“Traditional news media is objective, not anything that you can directly interact with or influence,” he said. Snapchat "makes politics feel more personal, because if you are attending the event, you can post to the convention story.”