If you're one of the many Instagrammers, you likely noticed a new feature on the app called "Stories" -- which bear a striking resemblance in both name and face to Snapchat stories. Revealed Tuesday, Stories allows users to post pictures and videos that you can draw on or add filters to, and are then deleted 24 hours later. This will hopefully alleviate the pressure to curate a picture-perfect life on the app, making it more real and personable, according to co-founder Kevin Systrom.
Following that, the next best aspect is how streamlined Stories are on Insta versus Snapchat. On Instagram, users are following everything from their friends and family to favorite celebrities and photographers to brands. There is no additional step of opening a second app, finding and adding those individuals, and watching their day-to-day lives on there.
Fellow Odyssey writer Loryn Rebyl recently took to shutting down Instagram's new feature, but what she calls cons, I label pros. Rebyl says,
"Instagram is the complete opposite [of Snapchat]. With every update, there is something new. And it’s pushing people away from the social network. If Instagram would pick a certain theme, style, or feel that they’re going for and stick to it, it wouldn’t have this problem."
While "consistency is key" oftentimes, not always so with social media. Apps need to constantly adapt and allow users to play with the next big thing, and right now, Snapchat is a pretty big thing. Insta does evolve occasionally, but I wouldn't go so far as to say new app icons, filters and extended videos are shoving dedicated users away from the Gram. In fact, if they continue to change and introduce a zooming feature, that's a whole bunch of moms ready to double-tap every single one of their child's posts.
Further still, Snapchat seems to continuously update, too, with new filters produced seemingly diurnally and a new Memories feature that allows users to upload media from their camera role. (Almost like the other social media app in question...)
On the other hand, Snapchat does host a number of unique additions such as stickers, geofilters, face animations and the ability to create an event story from a variety of users. In the same NY Times article, Systrom did not hesitate to admit that other 'competitors' have already established and advanced the concept of temporary sharing, so Rebyl's labeling of Instagram's Stories as a "rip-off" and thief of Snapchat's "trademark feature" takes the situation to dramatics.
Instagram has more than 500 million users while Snapchat hosts only 150 million daily users. This isn't to say Snapchat isn't a threat -- after all, Snapchatters are more active and submit more content -- but if other platforms with more users begin providing the same tools, who's to say the threat stays so volatile?
For me, it's a done deal. Bye Snapchat, helloooo Insta stories.
