Snapchat and Instagram Are at War: Find Out Who’s Winning Right Now

Here’s your mid-2017 social media update.

Let me tell you a ‘story’: Shots have been fired in the social media world.

Snapchat has had a hard time lately coping with Instagram, which introduced the similar-to-Snapchat feature of ‘Stories’ back in August 2016.

In those few months, Instagram Stories has accumulated more than 200 million daily users. (That’s more than half of Insta’s overall 400 million daily users). As of late 2016, Snapchat’s daily active user count reached 161 million, with only 25 percent posting content to their Stories feature.

In a move that’s similarly no help to Snapchat, Instagram also recently added augmented face filters (you know, the dog one, the golden halo, the toast, and so on). Eight filters were made available on Instagram, beginning May 16, 2017. Not only can you use the face filters on Instagram for photos but Boomerangs and Hands-free videos as well.

Another new feature allows users to add hashtags to their photos and videos, and from there explore other posts with the same hashtag. Most recently, Instagram also added “location-based” stories, again, just like Snapchat. Oh, and here’s one last addition: a new video feature, titled ‘rewind’. Sound familiar?

Following the release of Stories on Instagram, Snapchat saw a not-so-shocking decline in usage, also recording zero growth in the Rest of World market in the fourth quarter of 2016. Snapchat says, “We face significant competition in almost every aspect of our business both domestically and internationally… for example, Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook, recently introduced a ‘stories’ feature that largely mimics our Stories feature and may be directly competitive.”

Both Snapchat and Instagram appeal to people under the age of 35, backed up by a recent survey conducted by Wishbone, which noted that 63 per cent of Millennials said their preferred app was Snapchat. Catering for the younger crowd, Snapchat and Instagram is seen to be increasingly popular among users aged 12 – 25.

So, what do the Big Brand Names use? Nike has said their most popular Snapchat Story received 66,000 views. Not bad. However, compare it to the first 24 hours of one post on Instagram Stories, where they generated 800,000 views. The creator-network company Delmondo’s CEO, Nick Cicero, says “advertisers are already very comfortable with Instagram.”

Maybe Snapchat can change the game with their Spectacles?

At $AUD170 and with limited distribution, it’s a bold move for Snapchat and Snap Inc (recently relabelled as a camera company). The specs can record between 10 to 30 seconds of video, capturing footage using a 115-degree angle lens. This feature is designed and meant to resemble the human eye’s field of vision. Ranging in colour, the specs come in black, coral and blue, but are only available from the Snapbot, a travelling vending machine that pops up at surprise locations throughout the U.S.

Will this be the next big thing? A counter-punch for one of our favourite social media apps? Or will these Spectacles just fall to the ground like the Snapchat ice tray, the Snapchat playing cards, the Snapchat Backpack and the Snapchat plushie? Only time will tell.

But for now, go out and enjoy your favourite features, whether Snapchat takes your fancy or Instagram has a solid hold on you.

Jess Pabian is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. See more student contributions here.

Photo: iStock