QOTD: Now You See It …

Erasability used to be a mistake.

— Digital anthropology student Olly Osborne, who is studying the implications of data emphemerality, in a series on Medium called “Data Death”

Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky on App Discovery, Distribution and the Power of Chat Networks

The successful games investor chats about, well, chat.

With Private Messaging, Instagram and Twitter Continue Their Arms Race

It’s getting harder and harder to tell the two apps apart.

News Byte

Snapchat Raises $50 Million in Series C Round

Ephemeral messaging startup Snapchat has raised $50 million in a Series C round of venture capital, according to an SEC filing. The money was contributed by a single investor, CEO Evan Spiegel told TechCrunch. With today’s investment and the $60 million Series B round just a few months ago, Snapchat has raised upward of $120 million in total.

News Byte

Twitter Adds Private Photo Messaging to Mobile

As AllThingsD reported earlier this year that it would, Twitter on Tuesday launched a significant revamp of its private messaging product, adding the ability to send photos via Direct Message. Twitter also added a swipeable timeline feature (which we also reported would happen). All of this comes days before a highly anticipated Instagram event.

AllThingsD Week in Review: BlackBerry’s Future and Predictions for Tech in 2014

The Top 10 stories that powered AllThingsD this week, in one convenient post.

Dough Boys: Here’s Benchmark’s $425 Million Fund Filing Document

Take the money and run!

With New COO Hire, Snapchat Means (Non-Ephemeral) Business

The company that has proved increasingly popular with teens is starting to grow up.

Instagram Business Lead Emily White to Be Named COO of Snapchat

A big talent raid by the photo and video upstart from its rival and also potential acquirer.

The Buzziest Social Network, According to Hip-Hop

Hip-hop, hooray!

The Idiot’s Guide to Valuing Snapchat