Facebook unveils another Snapchat-esque feature

With its latest update, Instagram introduced “stories”, a secondary 24 hour timeline shamelessly stolen from Snapchat.

Instagram Stories is a 24-hour photo and video reel which allows users to create a slideshow of their “story” from that day.

With Instagram throwing down the gauntlet to Snapchat with its new “Stories” feature, we look at what it takes to create your own. As Stories get posted, you’ll see friends’ icons on this bar, which will light up when those friends post new Stories. Some avid Snapchat users are reporting high engagement on Instagram Stories because its “send message” feature allows for the real-time feedback from viewers in much the same way Facebook Live does.

If you’re sharing stories regularly, this might be welcome news.

According to a report in Cbs News by Brian Mastroianni, “It’s the battle of the photo apps: Instagram introduced a new feature Tuesday that puts it in direct competition with the younger-skewing Snapchat”.

The way people share on Facebook has shifted in the past 10 years, moving from text to photos to videos. It wants videos of your face, your pets, that half-eaten bagel, anything you’re sharing on Snapchat, really. He added that Instagram Stories benefits from robust technology as well as Facebook’s broader engineering team. These have included Poke, Slingshot, and Bolt, all of which fizzled out shortly after launch.

Social media has been ablaze since the update, with commenters drawing similarities between #InstagramStories and #SnapchatStories, and many claiming Instagram has copied Snapchat’s user experience (UX) design.

The said feature seems familiar because Snapchat is already providing an array of those filters. Such users can also make changes in their privacy settings to hide their posts for users they want. The company said it plans to add to them over time as it hears what people appreciate the most. At that time, Snapchat was there but yet to gain any popularity. Partly because of Snapchat’s response to the desire for fun and exciting features (face swap anyone?).

Gabby’s Insta Story is hands down the prettiest we’ve seen so far. “I don’t want to be here”, said beauty blogger Angela Peters of Hairspray and Highheels in a Wednesday Instagram Story. Snapchat recently surpassed Twitter Inc in daily users and is valued at around $US18 billion.

Instagram’s new addition may be in line with social media’s future, but not everyone is insane about the mind-meld going on between the two networks.