Snapchat gained popularity by allowing users to send photos and videos that disappear after being viewed, encouraging more frequent sharing without filling users' phones with stored media. It was created by Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown, and Bobby Murphy while they were students at Stanford University with the goal of creating an app that deleted pictures after they were seen once. Both Snapchat and Kik allow users to share messages, images, videos and more through their respective platforms using usernames instead of phone numbers.