Yep, Instagram Just Jacked Snapchat’s Whole Swag

instagram-musicSo the stories are true. Instagram has shamelessly borrowed Snapchat’s claim to fame. They have launched their own version of photos and videos that have a life span of no more than 24 hours. Gangsta.

Three years ago, the Snapchap start-up scored a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook in 2013. Since then Snapchat’s service has continued to grow.

Now today (Aug 2), Snapchat is facing some stiff competition. Instagram introduced Instagram Stories, which lets people share photos and videos that have a life span of no more than 24 hours with friends who follow them.

Kevin Systrom, co-founder and chief executive of Instagram, did not mention Snapchat by name in an interview about Instagram Stories, but he clearly referred to “competitors” and acknowledged that “other companies deserve all the credit” for popularizing disappearing photos and videos. It has been an area of interest for Instagram for some time, he said.

“Our mission has always been to capture and share the world’s moments, not just the world’s most beautiful moments,” he said. “Stories will alleviate a ton of the pressure people have to post their absolute best stuff.”

Snapchat Stories, a departure from the company’s original direct messaging service, has been a hit for essentially acting as a 24-hour photo and video diary viewable only by those who follow the user.

The rivalry between Snapchat and Instagram was evident in a report published last week from the investment banking firm Jefferies, which predicted that Snapchat’s growth could detract from Instagram’s advertising momentum by as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

“Snapchat consists of a more active user base, which creates more content than the average Instagram user,” the report said. “Given its younger demographic, we think Instagram looks the most at-risk from the rise of Snapchat, especially on a longer-term basis.”

Instagram has also faced reports that the service has had a decline in photo sharing on its network in recent years, a worrisome trend for the company.

Instagram Stories is now available in a separate section of the app, where users can shoot photos or video, which, as with Snapchat, can be adorned with text or drawings. Those are then combined to create a story, which is viewable by friends for 24 hours. People can make stories public or private, and can choose if they want only a subsection of their followers to view them.

Source: NY Times

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