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I really dislike the feature of Instagram that imitates Snapchat. When a software tries to make more than one thing, it loses it's identity. I am surprised that

I really dislike the feature of Instagram that imitates Snapchat. When a software tries to make more than one thing, it loses it's identity. I am surprised that people are still using it, but about the long run, nobody knows. I saw a funny tweet that someone just wrote "A fear" than an image of Twitter print, of the mobile version, with small spheres on the top (like the ones suddenly appeared on Instagram), so I realized that it's not just me that think Instagram got worse with this feature. And the design solution they found, really annoys me. Now we have this on all Facebook products (WhatsApp and Facebook itself). Talking about the software identity, I don't remember successful products that tries to do more than one thing. I think it's wrong, but it's apparently working, so I am observing and learning.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago
I'm on the flipside of this, I think my Instagram use is better as a result. I shared the same friend (mostly) list between Snap and Instagram and with the introduction of stories my Snap use dropped to basically zero. Instagram is a one stop shop for the accumulative feed, stories, and video DMs. No need to switch apps. That said, I didn't get a ton of direct messages on Snapchat, probably because I'm older and the kind of 1-1 communication I saw teens doing on Snap isn't as common for my age group, however that feature is there in IG. I might be an outlier, though I don't think I am judging by the numbers. On a more crass note, from the business perspective, Instagram is in a much better ad position than Snap because it's really easy to buy ad space. Not only that it's going to be easier to develop content for AR filters on Instagram because they have an actual developer pathway for that. As far as I can tell, Snap highly curates all broadcast content and advertising, and there is no third party developer support. Not sure why anyone wouldn't see how bad that is - if anything Snap should have learned from Twitter that third part devs are core to longevity.
- Zak 9y ago
  I'm a pretty casual user of Instagram and I hate the disappearing stories. I've never posted one, and I don't like the time pressure to view them rather than catching up at my leisure. I've never used Snapchat. Can you explain the appeal?
  - wahnfrieden 9y ago
    Lower stakes.
  - AndrewKemendo 9y ago
    The idea is that it's a more natural, free flowing expression because it's a low bar of entry that has no memory. So in that sense it can be anything you want without you having to worry if it's going to be indelible.
  - edpichler 9y ago
    It's nice to read about your point of view.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago

I'm on the flipside of this, I think my Instagram use is better as a result. I shared the same friend (mostly) list between Snap and Instagram and with the introduction of stories my Snap use dropped to basically zero. Instagram is a one stop shop for the accumulative feed, stories, and video DMs. No need to switch apps. That said, I didn't get a ton of direct messages on Snapchat, probably because I'm older and the kind of 1-1 communication I saw teens doing on Snap isn't as common for my age group, however that feature is there in IG. I might be an outlier, though I don't think I am judging by the numbers. On a more crass note, from the business perspective, Instagram is in a much better ad position than Snap because it's really easy to buy ad space. Not only that it's going to be easier to develop content for AR filters on Instagram because they have an actual developer pathway for that. As far as I can tell, Snap highly curates all broadcast content and advertising, and there is no third party developer support. Not sure why anyone wouldn't see how bad that is - if anything Snap should have learned from Twitter that third part devs are core to longevity.

Zak 9y ago
I'm a pretty casual user of Instagram and I hate the disappearing stories. I've never posted one, and I don't like the time pressure to view them rather than catching up at my leisure. I've never used Snapchat. Can you explain the appeal?
- wahnfrieden 9y ago
  Lower stakes.
- AndrewKemendo 9y ago
  The idea is that it's a more natural, free flowing expression because it's a low bar of entry that has no memory. So in that sense it can be anything you want without you having to worry if it's going to be indelible.
- edpichler 9y ago
  It's nice to read about your point of view.