Snapchat daily active users

Between 2015 and 2023, US lottery ticket sales and Snapchat daily active users both grew, correlating at 0.9649 across nine data points. Both enterprises sell the same product: a brief moment of hope followed by the realization that the odds were never in your favor. The lottery offers a 1-in-300-million chance of wealth; Snapchat offers a 1-in-300-million chance of virality. Both keep their users coming back through intermittent reinforcement, and both make their money from the gap between expectation and reality. The correlation is spurious, but the business models are spiritual twins.

Lottery sales grew from roughly $73 billion in 2015 to over $100 billion by 2023, boosted by larger jackpots, online sales, and state marketing. Snapchat DAUs grew from 75 million to over 400 million, driven by international expansion and product innovation. Both are consumer engagement metrics that grew during the same window of smartphone-mediated entertainment spending, driven by independent market dynamics.

Two engagement-driven consumer products growing during the same smartphone era will correlate regardless of their domains. The lottery ticket and the Snap share an audience and an era, not a cause.