Well if you can’t buy it, copy and kill it. That seems to be Facebook’s strategy for dealing with Snapchat. Facebook tried to buy Snapchat for $3 billion but was rejected.
Facebook has just introduced Instagram Stories which is just like Snapchat stories. Facebook knows the threat of Snapchat to the same target market (tweens and teen-sets) of its own social media platform, Instagram.
Instagram Stories lets you share all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story.
With Instagram Stories, you can share as much as you want throughout the day — with as much creativity as you want. You can bring your story to life in new ways with text and drawing tools. The photos and videos will disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed.
Introducing Instagram Stories from Instagram on Vimeo.
According to Instagram in a blog post,
You’ll see stories from people you follow in a bar at the top of your feed — from your best friends to your favorite popular accounts. When there’s something new to see, their profile photo will have a colorful ring around it.
To view someone’s story, just tap on their profile photo. It’s easy to view stories at your own pace: tap to go back and forward or swipe to jump to another person’s story. If you want to comment on something you see, you can tap and send a private message to that person on Instagram Direct. Unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public comments.
Though the Instagram Stories is very similar to Snapchat Stories, one interesting difference is that Instagram only allows you to share photos you’ve previously taken if they were shot within the last 24 hours.
Instagram Stories will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android.
Instagram has 500 million active users and 300 daily active users while Snapchat reported recently that it has 110 million daily active users. Instagram is just a year older than Snapchat.
What do you think about this “copycat feature”? Is Facebook desperate?
