INSTAGRAM STORIES OR SNAPCHAT? CONFESSIONS OF A DIGITAL AGENCY
There’s so much talk going around lately about whether or not Instagram stories rained on Snapchat’s parade.
We’re going to be honest with you here, we’re not taking sides.
We are, however, going to tell you our side of the story, and we hope you share your thoughts with us on what you think is really happening.
A while back we resumed working on our personal social media account after a long absence.
We know what you’re thinking, how can an agency that handles client social media accounts not be active on their own?
Guilty.
We were just too busy to keep updating our page all the time, and the content kept piling up till it all became too much to post all at once.
Anyway, when we finally decided it was time we did, we had a brainstorming session where we discussed which platforms we wanted Surfface to be on, and of course, someone said, “why don’t we start using Snapchat?”
The real question is, why should we?
Had this been last year, we would’ve jumped on board and experimented with Snapchat as much as we could, after all, we’re all about funky filters and emojis around here! But our reasons for choosing not to use Snapchat are a little greater than our love for all of those things.
The first step back for us was the following: We had an already existing, fully functional, engaging audience on Instagram, and did not feel like starting all over again on a platform we knew was going to offer the same thing (we’re not lazy we swear).
The second issue we had was with the overall usage and the UX of Snapchat. We simply found Instagram much easier to use and much more attractive as an interface than the latter, especially since Insta Stories opens the camera only when you click on “Create a Story” rather than immediately (plus, you don’t get “selfie mode”instantly the way you do with Snapchat, every.single.time.)
Last but not least, each time we went on Insta Stories, we discovered something new, and grew to love and constantly use features like the Boomerang or tagging an account in the story, something Snapchat doesn’t have. With Instagram we saw innovation, constant improvement, real “moment sharing” experiences, and realized we didn’t need Snapchat anymore, and this is what we think is happening with a lot of people.
So did Instagram Stories really steal Snapchat’s thunder?
Let’s find out together!
We’d love to discuss it with you and see what you think of the issue at hand.
Follow us on Instagram and keep track of our stories for daily entertainment (we promise we won’t disappoint!)