The power of Kylie Jenner! After tweeting about ditching Snapchat, app loses $1.3bn

Influential personalities dictate pop culture trends, and sometimes, the direction of market value. 

A tweet by reality star Kylie Jenner has re-emphasised this fact and has also shown just how powerful she is among the youth.

Snapchat shares lost $1.3 billion on Thursday after Jenner tweeted that she was no longer using the app.

At the close of trading on Wednesday, Snapchat’s shares dropped by six percent and traded at $17; it’s price when it was first floated on the stock market.

Jenner, who is Kim Kardashian’s younger sister, like other users, was not pleased about the new update made by the app’s developers.

“Sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad,” she tweeted to her 28.5 million followers.

“Still love you tho snap … my first love.”

sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.

— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018

still love you tho snap … my first love

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— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018

One million people had signed a petition demanding that Snapchat reverse the changes made to the app. The company has however rejected complaints about the design, which was updated in November.

Commenting on the petition, Evan Spiegel, the company’s chief executive officer, said users only needed time to adjust to the new design.

The new design intends to separate interactions with friends from branded content, which includes celebrities and influencers.

This, it hopes will help fight the rise of fake news.

Users now have to swipe left to see and interact with their friends, and swipe right to see branded and celebrity content.