Not sure why someone felt the appropriate response was to downvote you rather than voicing their disagreement. I think you're right.

With WhatsApp picking up speed in my close friend circle, Facebook messenger being used for everyone else, and the occasional Google hangouts messages when I feel like being online, I don't think even taking the "ephemeral" approach is going to make a difference in persuading me to start picking Snapchat over competing platforms. Snapchat is fun because as other users mentioned, I get to send bullshit one-off joke snaps to my friends. I don't want to maintain a conversation of any sort through another app. However, knowing the conversation is immediately cleared further dissuades me. The point of this feature is that it's good for non-committal "conversations" and very easy to engage/disengage. But I already have WhatsApp for that, and I have group conversations there, and my messages aren't deleted.

Snapchat has always been more about the one-to-one messaging. Yes you can do one-to-many, but it still gives a more personal feel than a many-to-many group message. You had to click on that person to send it to them, you actively thought about them no matter how instantaneously.

I use Snapchat for both very close friends and acquaintances too, I can send both inside jokes or just a simple hello to someone I haven't spoken to in a while. I don't feel an obligation to respond to snapchats and don't feel ignored when someone doesn't respond to mine, how I would via text, or facebook messenger.

I personally never use facebook messenger. I've had it turned off for a couple of years now and only use it on the rare occasion that a friend changed phone numbers (friends moving abroad mostly) and even that is just to get their new number so I can use whatsapp or text messaging. As for whatsapp I strictly use it for large, on going, group messages or friends in other countries. But I guess everyone has their own use-cases.