AAAAAND IN THE BLUE CORNER
Grab your popcorn, guys – because the virtual gauntlet has just been cast.
Recently, Snapchat users may have noticed the app roll out its latest update… ‘Memories’, which you can use to save your favourite posts into a readily viewable gallery that enables you to share them again, anytime, anywhere.
#TBT vibes, anyone?
There are such things as coincidences, but it would appear that Instagram didn’t get the memo because just weeks later, the gallery proud app announced its newest and biggest change since the whole algorithm debacle (still a sore spot for us, btw) – introducing… ‘Stories’
i.e. InstaSnap – because that’s exactly what is is. Instagram and Snapchat have merged into one to create the social media version of Frankenstein
We’ll call him Frankstasnap.
Not only have lines been crossed but wires have, too, and the internet is not happy.
It seems that Instagram (sidenote: now owned by Facebook) decided to play the ‘if you can’t buy them, be them’ card.
It’s no secret that one of Snapchat’s best features is that users don’t have to worry about over-sharing – you go right ahead and post all the photos of coffee cups & puppy faces you want, they’ll all be gone by tomorrow!
…and this is where Instagram freaked out a little. Instead of being logical and reminding themselves that their users can ultimately make their own decisions on whether to follow or unfollow someone based on how frequently they post; they straight up copy & pasted their way to a new update with more similarities to Snapchat than we can count on one hand #cringe
Remember that lecture our parents / teachers / somewhat mildly respectable adults told us when we were younger?
‘Always be yourself, because there is only one you’
SOMEBODY DIDN’T GET THE MEMO, DID THEY?
So what does this mean for us? The users, the business owners, the ones who have come to love both apps for different reasons and different benefits?
Don’t put all your virtual eggs in one basket. Apps continually evolve, that’s a given – but sometimes they make major changes… catching us completely off guard and you can be left in the dust if you don’t have a solid following or a trusty alternative to fall back on.
On the other hand, this could be a winning move for those who weren’t quite wholeheartedly over the fence and on the snap-wagon to begin with, because Instagram just made the whole shebang accessible on just one platform.
We’ve got just one thing to say about this
…DETENTION!