I didn't down vote it, but...
Not everyone is technologically savvy. Snapchat became popular because of the implication that the pictures you take with it are ephemeral and private. It's sort of the whole point, isn't it? If not, how is it different than a SMS picture message?
Sure, to those who understand the tech, it's pretty obvious that whatever is sent through the pipes is out there, in perpetuity. But most people don't think like that, and Snapchat played on that misconception as a model.