Some are dedicated to the original Snapchat story, so much that they will post their snapchat username on their Instagram story to lure people back to Snapchat. Others, who already use Instagram more so than Snapchat, utilize Instagram stories since it is conveniently placed in an app they are already using.
According to and article on AdAge, Instagram is taking the lead in popularity, by garnering 200 million daily users of the story feature. This is based on Snapchat's 158 million daily users, which is not far behind, but acknowledging that it was the original "story" feature application.
Instagram also moves ahead with the incorporation of "Instagram Live", which is where users can stream a live video on their Instagram and people can watch and comment. Snapchat has not utilized a "live" feature yet, but it doesn't go without notice that Instagram may have copped the "live" idea from Facebook.
All of our favorite social media applications are trying to outsmart one another by adding the same features but trying to make them better than the original. Do you think this is a fair play by Instagram? Or should they try to find their own niche feature that steers away from the rest?
I think that this is a fair play by Instagram, since they are trying to stay competitive in a market where product differentiation is slowly melting away & social media is increasingly becoming viewed as a commodity.
ReplyDeleteI know that Snapchat refused to be acquired by Facebook, which could be part of the reason why Facebook and Instagram (Instagram was acquired by Facebook a few years ago) created stories on their platforms: to lure people away from Snapchat, as well as to maintain an edge in the social network industry.
The addition of the Live feature on Facebook, which the company then rolled out on Instagram, is a way that the company is further differentiating itself from Snapchat. Snapchat's edge used to lie in the one-on-one snaps: these photos were immediate & gave a sense of the recipient being with the sender in "real-time." Live features on other sites take that feeling further by actually giving viewers the option to view events in real-time.
If Snapchat wants to remain ahead (as they have tried to do with the introduction of Memories, which utilize photos already on one's camera roll), perhaps they should also look into integrating such a feature in their suite of capabilities.
...maybe I should have written my own response-post instead of leaving you a giant comment on your post lol. I like the points you brought up, though.