Snapchat users watch 7 billion videos daily, a dramatic spike that sees it rival Facebook

Snapchat can finally lay claim to rivaling fellow social network Facebook, at least in terms of video viewing figures.

The latest numbers being reported reveal that Snapchat users now watch 7 billion video clips every day. That’s 5 billion extra daily video views in less than a year, and a billion more than the figure reported in November 2015.

The spike sees the app inch closer to social media behemoth Facebook, which laid claim to 8 billion daily video views in November of last year. It’s a miraculous achievement when you consider that Facebook’s approximate user base of 1 billion members is roughly 10 times larger than Snapchat’s 100 million users. The latter, however, has the advantage of being built on visual media, and little else.

The milestone is rendered yet more impressive when comparing the ways the two services tally video views. Although Facebook attributes a view to any video that auto-plays in a user’s stream for more than three seconds, Snapchat requires its users to be more proactive by clicking to open a video.

Snapchat’s new record has been attributed in part to the visual messaging app’s Stories feature. The tool introduced in 2013 and expanded last year allows users to correlate video clips that are then available to others for a period of 24 hours.

Although Snapchat hasn’t officially confirmed the numbers, it will certainly be pleased with itself. Video views are reportedly seen as the holy grail for online services such as Google’s YouTube, and Facebook. As each company chases more advertising revenue, laying claim to blockbuster viewership numbers can act as an attractive bidding tool. With a recent report claiming that Snapchat is working on advertising technology to make it easier for brands to cater their ads toward its service, the news could not come at a better time for the platform.