Thursday, 11 August 2016 03:03

Industry News: Instagram Dropped A Bomb. . . and The Mic

The genius emperors of the phone application, Instagram have dropped the ultimate bomb on pop culture. “Instagram has always been a place to share the moments you want to remember. Now you can share your highlights and everything in between, too.”

Instagram has just this week inherited a new feature to their application that mimics Snapchat’s integral Stories platform.

What are Instagram Stories

The way you create an Instagram Story is identical to the way a user would for a Snapchat. Through the phone app, a user takes a photo or video. They can draw, add text, and add color filters to the photo or video. Users can add multiple photos or videos to their Instagram Story creating a storyline. The people who can view the Story are the same as in the user’s security settings. In other words, anyone that follows a user can see their Story. Within 24 hours of posting the photo or video it will disappear just as Snapchat Stories do. There are a few popular editing features that Snapchat has such as the facial lenses or geographic overlays that Instagram Stories do not have. Yet.

Instagram etiquette is posting only a highlighted picture of your “worthy” event. Now, with the new feature of Stories, Instagramers can capture their less-glamorous shots that won’t interrupt the feed or diminish the permanent material on their profile. The Stories sit at the top of an Instagramer’s feed giving them the choice of watching them or not.

Why Instagram is Brilliant

Snapchat is exclusive, therefore difficult to gain followers. A Snapchatter must access a user’s Ghost Code (specific to each Snapchat profile), or they have to know the specific username in order to add and follow. Instagram on the other hand, has a sense of community. You are able to see the profiles of followers or discover new profiles to strengthen your follower base.

Instagram is going to take some usage from Snapchat by offering fundamentally what Snapchat’s entirety was designed to do. Snapchat’s Stories is confusing to use, where Instagram made it simple. Instagram takes you through the process with little effort and clear feature icons.

People will take Snapchats, save them, and then use them to post to their Instagram profile. With Instagram’s Story feature, that alleviates some of the cross-application usages that are being done.

The Hesitation

Big-time Snapchat advocates are salty and are standing firmly against the whole idea of Instagram’s new feature. People want that single special picture to display on their Instagram profile, but are they going to carry that more selective stigma to their Instagram Stories? We’re creatures of habit, and these habits aren’t easy to break.

The deal is that Instagram may have put a large dent in the Snapchat epidemic. It will be interesting to see how these media platforms will evolve after Instagram’s new feature integration.

Let us know what you think about the new addition to Instagram. Too much app overlap from a user perspective? Or is it going to be a game changer from a business branding perspective? We want to hear what’s on your mind.

The value of Snapchat may be a mystery to older generations who question the need for another social media platform, but for younger generations, it has become vital to their social interactions.


 

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