Sexting App Snapchat Is A Threat To Facebook, And It Is 2013's Most Likely Billion Dollar Startup

The main reason people use Facebook is to share photos, and Instagram was threatening this dominance on mobile, where consumer computer usage is going.

Now there is a new startup that presents a similar threat.

It's called Snapchat. It's an app where users send each other self-destructing photos. Teens use it to send each other provocative images, which adults call "sexting."

Like Instagram, it's a mobile photo-sharing app, and it's come out of nowhere to grow like crazy.

Facebook already tried to build a Snapchat clone, which failed to gain wide adoption.

Snapchat poses a real threat to Facebook, and because of that it wouldn't surprise us if Facebook – or one of its rivals like Google, Yahoo, or Twitter – stepped in to acquire it at a massive premium over its current $50 million valuation.

There is only two things that could prevent Snapchat from having this kind of exit this year or next:

• It proves to be a fad, and teenagers drop it for something else.
• Snapchat's cofounders think they are the next Mark Zuckerberg, and try to build a long-term company out of the app.

Over on Quora, Jason Martin breaks Snapchat's growth down succinctly with charts and a timeline.

Read Quote of Jason Martin's answer to Snapchat: How did Snapchat get traction? on Quora