It is no longer news that Instagram imitated Snapchat in a classic case of copycat. What happened? Instagram smartly introduced Instagram stories allow users share the key moments of your day. This Instagram feature was copied from Snapchat and of course, the managers of Snapchat are aggrieved because they know that they have a viable completion in Instagram. So, why did Instagram clone Snapchat? Here are four reasons why.
Appeal to younger ones
According to research, the use of Snapchat grew by 11% among 12 to 24 year-olds between 2015 and 2016. This is not the same for Instagram because many of its users are older. With this move by Instagram, makes is more attractive to the younger age cadre.
Facebook controls the video spheres
You can hardly divorce Facebook from Instagram. Facebook dominates the video sphere with 500 million users watching 8 billion videos per day. In addition, 65% watched these videos on mobile devices. In fact, research shows that Facebook will be all video in the next 5 years. Since Facebook has prioritized videos, it will be an abysmal move to do same on Instagram. Instagram story is an extension of a general navigation towards videos.
Bring snap features to adult usage of Instagram
Instagram is attempting to bridge the gap between young and the old. If it achieves this, it will definitely have an edge over Snapchat because it will attract both sides of the divide old and young. Most Instagram users are over 30 and it is the king of social media engagement generating a 4.21% engagement rate per follower. No other social network gets this type of traction.
Facebook is still smarting from Snapchat’s rejection
This may not be an essential reason but it is worth mentioning. Snapchat rejected a $3 billion offer from Facebook. This offer was turned down despite the fact Snapchat is yet to make any money. And Evan Spiegel, the founder of Snapchat was only 23-year-old. Facebook’s owner may still be smarting from this rejection.
