Venice Paparazzi was on the scene at the Snapchat protest in Venice, California

2.28.17 Snapchat Protest in Venice, California. © www.VenicePaparazzi.com

The event: Snapchat protest in Venice, California

Article by Venice Paparazzi’s Alex Stowell

The Venice locals came out en masse on Tuesday to voice their displeasure with tech. giant Snapchat’s ever growing presence in the neighborhood.

Grievances included zoning violations, aggressive security and the privatization of public space.

Venice’s Jim Robb, of Calavera Tequila fame, and Mark Rago, were the event organizers.

Robb and Rago initially got involved because they objected to the re-zoning of the LA Louver building as live/work space for Snap. The re-zoning would have extended the hours of operation until 2:00 a.m., among other things.

The protest included a variety of signage and T-shirts and folks taking turns chanting into a mega-phone. The most memorable of this was Tonan leading a chorus of “Nerds, Nerds, Nerds,” reminiscent of the movie Revenge of The Nerds

Which rings ironically true, as on the day of their IPO, Snap! president, 26 y.o. Evan Spiegel is now worth twice as much as Oprah, and the company is valued at a staggering 33 billion dollars.

A second protest was staged during the IPO and Snap offered to buy lunch for the protestors.

Some Venice business owners, however, have seen an uptick in business and welcome Snap! One source, who wishes to remain anonymous, says “you have an influx of rich, law abiding, people who spend money and like to have a good time, what’s not to like?”

Regardless of how people are viewing this, one thing is for sure , the protest was effective.

It was covered nationwide, and a statement from Snap! says “they did not anticipate such rapid growth and focusing future development outside of Venice.

Way to get your voices heard, Venice!

And thank to Jim Robb and Mark Rago for putting this together.

View highlights by Venice Paparazzi’s Edizen Stowell