Snapchat divides users as they announce policy to begin charging users for free feature

Snapchat has left large portions of its user base feeling frustrated after a recent policy announcement, as one of the social media platform's most popular features will now cost money if you use it too much.

There is no denying the simplicity of Snapchat, as it has persisted with its short and limited time message, photo, and video sharing format that has made it a popular choice for many for years.

While it still prioritises the limited nature of what you share on the app, Snapchat has bent the rules a little over the years to allow people to save their favorite posts through a feature aptly titled 'Memories', letting you look back through the years to see what you shared at the time.

It is one of the social media platform's most popular additions and most people cherish being able to preserve the otherwise short lived images and videos that they share with their friends.

However, it seems like it was a little too good to be true as a new announcement from the app has revealed that users will now have to pay money to keep their Memories once a certain threshold has been reached, as reported by Dexerto.

"We want to make sure that our community can continue to store all of their Memories over the long term, so we are introducing Memories Storage Plans to support Snapchatters with more than 5GB of Memories," the company explained in a now controversial statement.

While most people likely won't exceed this amount – especially if they primarily have held onto photos over the years – but you might be surprised to find yourself subject to the payment requirements if you've been an avid Memory hoarder for a number of years.

Thankfully you do have 12 months from the announcement to download and save any Memories that exist beyond the limit, but once that time is up they'll be deleted forever, potentially erasing years of posts that people have kept dear to their hearts.

If you did want to think about upgrading your storage then it doesn't cost 'too' much in the grand scheme of things, with 100GB for $1.99/month, 250GB for $3.99/month, or a whopping 5TB limit for $14.99/month — good luck ever reaching that.

It is frustrating to be required to pay a monthly fee to store something that was originally free though, and it's left many Snapchat users feeling like they've been scammed.

"I'm sorry WTF DO YOU MEAN SNAPCHAT IS GOING TO CHARGE YOU MONEY TO KEEP YOUR MEMORIES," one user angrily wrote in a post on X, adding that they've "been using it as storage for 10 YEARS" and that they're "so sick of capitalism and its insertion into the internet."

Another added that "the only reason I use that app is for a second camera roll like the greed is sickening," with a third lamenting about "how greedy it is to make people pay for DECADES of their memories because y'all company is a flop? F*** you Snapchat."