You pull the barbell up from the ground (like a deadlift) while dropping into a squat, and then get it up over your head while standing up. It is much more explosive than either the deadlift or squat separately.
But - it being explosive makes perfect sense, but what does it work that deadlift or squats alone don’t? Or is the point the explosiveness?
For my old ass I do it because it’s so hard and the rest of my life is fairly soft. Waking up and getting beat down by some snatches (or occasionally having a great session) keeps me level headed in other areas of life, I guess.
If you’re not a competitive weightlifter but still training explosiveness for other sports then you’re better off doing variations on the lifts. Like hang snatches, power cleans, power snatches, etc.
It would be just as easy for someone to incredulously ask me why I love BJJ, despite being hypermobile and having a much higher chance of injury as a result.
It’s about what you love. That’s why you do it. That makes perfect sense.