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> According to the report, Instagram Stories has more than 200 million users per day, with that number being measured by people updating their story or watching

> According to the report, Instagram Stories has more than 200 million users per day, with that number being measured by people updating their story or watching a friend's. I wonder what the number would be if those who only watched stories were excluded. Its also worth considering that Instagram delivers some of their announcements as stories and whether or not people viewing those also count towards the active user number.

majani 9y ago
Registered lurkers still count as active users. As a matter of fact, social media follows the 80:20 rule when it comes to steady content creation
rjeli 9y ago
This is very important. I watch Instagram and Snapchat stories every day. Instagram is 2 or 3 celebrity stories, then I scroll down to look at a few new pics. Snapchat is a constant stream of glimpses into the lives of my close friends. edit: I'm curious if this is true only for my friend groups/demographic/principal component, poll here: http://www.strawpoll.me/12939274 http://www.strawpoll.me/12939274
- bennesvig 9y ago
  Snap calls itself the friends and family network for a reason. Instagram is a mix of celebrities, influencers, businesses, friends and family.
  - elgenie 9y ago
    That's not a particularly good thing from Wall St's perspective. Snap's path to monetization runs through celebrities, influencers and businesses.
    - nostrademons 9y ago
      Why? Their monetization strategy so far has been brand advertisement interspersed as vertical video ads between Stories. This doesn't require any particular kind of content, only that they can hold your attention for 10 seconds or so while they show you an advertisement.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - abritinthebay 9y ago
        And their monitization strategy so far has led to larger losses than expected, less revenue per user, and slower user growth. It might make for a better user experience but that's not good for a free service
        pm90 9y ago
        Good point but I think the solution is not to gut their good user experience, but to figure out better monetization strategies. Because better user experience is about the only thing keeping them in the Game.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        Well yes, they would likely keep their current one while expanding into new areas. I'd argue though the only thing keeping them in the game is network effects and fighting that fight vs IG is... going to be challenging.
- ryanSrich 9y ago
  This thread is very interesting for me. I've never used Snapchat before, and I deleted my Facebook years ago. However I do use Instagram daily. The caveat there is that I've never viewed or have taken a story. Video just feels very odd and antithetical to the reason I use the platform (which is to post outdoor photos). I guess if I could upload high quality video to a story I'd be more interested in it.
  - adjkant 9y ago
    If you're worried about quality, you're missing the point. Stories as a concept work because they are informal glimpses into people.
Guyag 9y ago
I suspect it'd be pretty different. Stories are right at the top when you open the app and are used by quite a few celebs - that must inflate the numbers a lot.
puranjay 9y ago
A side note: I've seen an increasing number of friends on Whatsapp use the 'Status' feature to share pictures (which works like Stories). It's a very tiny percentage so far - maybe 1-2% of my contacts list - but it is being used. If this gets to about 10%, Snapchat should be worried. Whatsapp has a massive user base in developing countries.
- DrJid 9y ago
  Not to forget that for many, many users in emerging markets, the mobile carriers offer free data for WhatsApp. Traveling through Colombia, and I can use WhatsApp status for free over here. SnapChat kills my data.
  - CodingGuy 9y ago
    Which is a really bad thing for net neutrality...
    - mstade 9y ago
      I was about to write the same thing. Here in Sweden you often see adverts for telcos where they offer free data for Facebook usage and stuff like that. We're not a developing country and you'll get a fair bit of data at a reasonable cost here, so it's perhaps not as obvious how this skews things in favour of the big players, but it's there alright, and it's sad.
- pm90 9y ago
  I really really really hope this does not happen. I already don't like how much data WhatsApp eats after downloading shared images and such. I want WhatsApp to be text and group text and thats IT.

majani 9y ago

Registered lurkers still count as active users. As a matter of fact, social media follows the 80:20 rule when it comes to steady content creation

rjeli 9y ago

This is very important. I watch Instagram and Snapchat stories every day. Instagram is 2 or 3 celebrity stories, then I scroll down to look at a few new pics. Snapchat is a constant stream of glimpses into the lives of my close friends. edit: I'm curious if this is true only for my friend groups/demographic/principal component, poll here: http://www.strawpoll.me/12939274 http://www.strawpoll.me/12939274

bennesvig 9y ago
Snap calls itself the friends and family network for a reason. Instagram is a mix of celebrities, influencers, businesses, friends and family.
- elgenie 9y ago
  That's not a particularly good thing from Wall St's perspective. Snap's path to monetization runs through celebrities, influencers and businesses.
  - nostrademons 9y ago
    Why? Their monetization strategy so far has been brand advertisement interspersed as vertical video ads between Stories. This doesn't require any particular kind of content, only that they can hold your attention for 10 seconds or so while they show you an advertisement.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - abritinthebay 9y ago
      And their monitization strategy so far has led to larger losses than expected, less revenue per user, and slower user growth. It might make for a better user experience but that's not good for a free service
      - pm90 9y ago
        Good point but I think the solution is not to gut their good user experience, but to figure out better monetization strategies. Because better user experience is about the only thing keeping them in the Game.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        Well yes, they would likely keep their current one while expanding into new areas. I'd argue though the only thing keeping them in the game is network effects and fighting that fight vs IG is... going to be challenging.
ryanSrich 9y ago
This thread is very interesting for me. I've never used Snapchat before, and I deleted my Facebook years ago. However I do use Instagram daily. The caveat there is that I've never viewed or have taken a story. Video just feels very odd and antithetical to the reason I use the platform (which is to post outdoor photos). I guess if I could upload high quality video to a story I'd be more interested in it.
- adjkant 9y ago
  If you're worried about quality, you're missing the point. Stories as a concept work because they are informal glimpses into people.

Guyag 9y ago

I suspect it'd be pretty different. Stories are right at the top when you open the app and are used by quite a few celebs - that must inflate the numbers a lot.

puranjay 9y ago

A side note: I've seen an increasing number of friends on Whatsapp use the 'Status' feature to share pictures (which works like Stories). It's a very tiny percentage so far - maybe 1-2% of my contacts list - but it is being used. If this gets to about 10%, Snapchat should be worried. Whatsapp has a massive user base in developing countries.

DrJid 9y ago
Not to forget that for many, many users in emerging markets, the mobile carriers offer free data for WhatsApp. Traveling through Colombia, and I can use WhatsApp status for free over here. SnapChat kills my data.
- CodingGuy 9y ago
  Which is a really bad thing for net neutrality...
  - mstade 9y ago
    I was about to write the same thing. Here in Sweden you often see adverts for telcos where they offer free data for Facebook usage and stuff like that. We're not a developing country and you'll get a fair bit of data at a reasonable cost here, so it's perhaps not as obvious how this skews things in favour of the big players, but it's there alright, and it's sad.
pm90 9y ago
I really really really hope this does not happen. I already don't like how much data WhatsApp eats after downloading shared images and such. I want WhatsApp to be text and group text and thats IT.