I've written in the past about the fact that Google+ is trying to fix social networking. While they’re not doing it very successively, the concept behind Circles is a powerful one. It allows users to easily share with discretion; i.e. to share certain updates and photos with selected groups (or circles) of friends. If Facebook favors 'open social networking', and Google+ is promoting 'discreet social networking', then Snapchat is promoting 'private social networking'.

From Wikipedia, Snapchat is:

a photo messaging application. Using the app, users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a controlled list of recipients. Users set a time limit for how long recipients can view their photos, up to 10 seconds, after which it will be deleted from the recipient's device and the company's servers.

Sounds like something James Bond would use.

Snapchat was started back in September 2011 by a couple of Stanford guys. It now has around 200k monthly uniques, a $50 million valuation and users are sending 50 million 'snaps' a day.

Snapchat's success is a clear indication that there's a market for privacy. Social networks that don't facilitate the ability to easily share with discretion would be smart to take a closer look at Snapchat.