We all know that Snapchat has been getting a ton of attention lately, with its recent new features including Memories and the upcoming Spectacles. It is no surprise that Facebook watches Snapchat closely and tries to maintain its own competitive edge.
Just two months ago, Facebook rolled out Instagram Stories globally, allowing users to share photos and videos that last 24 hours. Sounds familiar, right?
Less than a week ago, TechCrunch learned that Facebook is secretly testing another new feature in Messenger: “Messenger Day” in Poland. It lets people share illustrated filter-enhanced photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours, just like on Snapchat. Users can draw or add text to images and share them to friends. The innovative part lies in the graphic filters. They suggest “Feeling…”, or “Who’s up for…”. The suggestions remind me of Facebook status updates add-ons: “Feeling…”, “Traveling to…”, and “Thinking About…”.
It’s amazing how quickly Facebook can clone, test, and scale a product. The social media giant knows how to leverage its 1 billion Messenger user base, and select the countries where Snapchat hasn’t fully penetrated yet. Currently, Snapchat has more than 100 million active user; out of the 100 million, 60 million users are from the United States and Canada. Though Snapchat’s user base is much smaller than that of Messenger, the Snapchat’s growth rate is jaw-dropping. eMarketer forecasts that by the end of this year, Snapchat will have a larger user base in the U.S. than either Twitter or Pinterest. Facebook’s strategy of testing Messenger Day in eastern Europe countries certainly is a smart move by grasping the first mover advantage by keeping Snapchat out of the way.
Messenger Day is a feature using existing technology and business strategy: luring users to share more candid, authentic contents on Messenger instead of Snapchat. Since Messenger is already an app people use all day with close friends, Messenger Day can slow Snapchat’s growth. Though we don’t know whether Messenger Day will eventually be rolled out globally, Snapchat should be wary that the battle with Facebook will be tough especially in countries other than the United States and Canada.
What are you thoughts? If you are a Snapchat user, will Messenger Day incentivized you to stop using Snapchat?
Resources:
Top Snapchat Demographics That Matter to Social Media Marketers
Facebook “Messenger Day” is the chat app’s new Snapchat Stories clone
Hi Sevinna,
Thanks for posting this interesting topic. I agree that facebook way more user base across the globe and could easily copy Snapchat and put it out of business. But I think its not that simple for Facebook to do so because copyright law. There has been some discussion whether Instagram has broken the law while introducing its new feature “Instagram Stories”, but it turned out to be legal as the same as Facebook’s news feeds which was originally developed by Facebook and is now used in numerous apps. However, the power of Snapchat lies in two of its core features, which Facebook keeps trying to copy, Yet without success. The two Snapchat’s core features that make Facebook so desperate to buy or copy SnapChat are 1) It is Private, there are no public like, no favorites or no comments 2) Its Messages are ” short-lived that means that they disappear are a given period of time (Ingram, 2016). I think oi there were no copyrights for these features, Facebook has already added to Messenger app.
Ignore the first Comment:
Hi Sevinna,
Thanks for posting this interesting blog. I agree that facebook has way more user base across the globe and could easily copy Snapchat and put Snapchat out of business. But I think its not that simple for Facebook to do so because of the copyright law. There has been some discussion whether Instagram has broken the law while introducing its new feature “Instagram Stories”, but it turned out to be legal as the same as Facebook’s news feeds which was originally developed by Facebook and is now used in numerous apps. However, the power of Snapchat lies in two of its core features, which Facebook keeps trying to copy, Yet without success. The two Snapchat’s core features that make Facebook so desperate to buy or copy SnapChat are 1) It is Private, there are no public like, no favorites or no comments 2) Its Messages are ” short-lived” that means that they disappear after a given period of time (Ingram, 2016). I think if there were no copyrights for these features, Facebook has already added to Messenger app.
Dear Qining (Sevinna), thank you for your blog! I am both a Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook user. I have not yet used Instagram to create a story, as I prefer using Instagram and Snapchat for what they are meant for, in my eyes. However, many people concluded quickly after Instagram stories was introduced that their reach was much higher, as all your followers and even non-followers (if your profile is open) can see your Instagram story, whereas for Snapchat you need to add friends to your list to communicate with them. I mainly use Facebook for Messenger, and I doubt I will use Facebook Messenger Stories. However, for people who are not yet using Snapchat, it is a very smart idea from Facebook to enter these markets before Snapchat. Thus, to answer your question, Messenger Day is highly unlikely to stop me from using snapchat.