Not sure where to start with Snapchat? These journalists will tell you how

Snapchat, labeled by some as the fastest-growing social network with an estimated 200 million monthly active users, is a social network some journalists have been slow to adopt.

The mobile-only app has only been around since 2011 and is used primarily to send pictures or videos to friends. Snapchat allows you to draw on the posts, which makes them more interactive and unique.

The app does have a Discover section where large news outlet distribute their content such as CNN, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal. Part of what makes the app unique is that is a self-contained experience within the app. Anyone using it can't link to an outside source, meaning the content has to be truly original to the platform.

How should newsrooms looking to reach a new audience through the app get started? We have some advice from three reporters and editors at The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla. Reporters Tori Walker and Kaitlyn Pearson as well as Social Media Editor Laura Davis have been using Snapchat since July of 2015.

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