Snapchat Stories < Instagram Stories

One thing I spend way too much time doing every day is tapping through Instagram Stories. They are an easy way to pass time and are just so addictive. But interestingly, I am not the same way with Snapchat Stories. I hardly ever use Snapchat anymore, and I may not be the only one who has lost interest.

Instagram added it’s Stories feature in 2016. They stole this idea from their biggest competitor, Snapchat, and ended up stealing it's users too. According to an article on Recode.net, there are now 400 million users watching Stories per day. This is over two times the amount of users Snapchat has. 

I think the addition of Stories caused a shift in users because Instagram became a one-stop shop. Including both Stories and regular posts in one app makes it more convenient to keep up with friends and everyone you follow without having to check multiple apps. I also think Stories made Instagram more appealing because they feel more real and less perfect or fake than regular posts do. It is easy to get caught up on how perfect everyone’s lives look from their feed, but Stories help to offset that. They only last for 24 hours so less time and editing is involved in making them. Their temporariness makes them a great way for people to show the ordinary, everyday things they do that are not so glamorous.

I think being able to see both sides of people is the reason so many people use Instagram. The polished main posts are entertaining and interesting but it is also nice to know that people are just like us sometimes too. They go to work, the grocery store, and even binge watch Netflix once in a while. Seeing people do the same everyday things you do takes away some of the FOMO we all experience.