If you're still wary of jumping on the Snapchat bandwagon, Instagram is rolling out its own take on social evanescence in the next few weeks that's likely to be a much more brand friendly way to play with disappearing content.
The Facebook-owned app announced on Aug. 2 that it’s launching a new Snapchat-esque feature called “Stories.” The company hopes the move will encourage users to post more of their everyday moments to the platform, whereas only the best, most visually stunning parts of life made it onto Instagram in the past.
The update works almost exactly like Snapchat Stories, and Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom doesn’t shy away from that fact.
“They deserve all the credit,” Systrom told TechCrunch. “[But] this isn’t about who invented something. This is a format, and how you take it to a network and put your own spin on it.”
Though the update is very similar to Snapchat Stories, there are a few noteworthy differences. On Instagram, you won’t be able to save your entire story like on Snapchat. At the moment, you can only post individual pieces of the story to your regular Instagram feed. You also can’t upload old images or video to Instagram’s Stories like you can using Snapchat's Memories feature.
This update brings the kind of unfiltered and candid content that’s made Snapchat famous to a platform aching for raw storytelling. Brands who have been hesitant to adopt a Snapchat presence in the face of a woeful lack of features like analytics, business profiles and simple discoverability will find a way to join in on the ephemeral fun with Instagram Stories. This could also be a testing ground for cautious brands to try out Snapchat strategies with their previously established, highly engaged audiences on Instagram.
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