It’s clear to see that Instagram has seemingly reproduced Snapchat’s much loved “Stories” feature, by creating its own. Set to roll out to all users over the coming weeks, will the update threaten Snapchat’s unique position?

With both platforms, the idea with this feature is that users can share multiple images and videos in a slideshow format- making up a story. But we’re surprised to see the glaring similarities between the two-Instagram has also drawn on Snapchat’s premise, allowing users to edit these with text and doodles too, and all stories also disappear after 24 hours. The app has decided to emphasise this feature loud and clear to users, displaying stories from those they are following in a top bar on the home feed. Notifications are shown by highlighting that user’s profile picture with a coloured ring around it. And like on Snapchat, Instagram’s format it the same, enabling users to tap through story images/videos, and swipe to skip stories.

Instagram has also gone one step further by showing you which users have viewed your stories as well as the number, so you can easily gauge your content’s popularity- something that will be crucial for brands. Global companies such as Nike have already leapt at the opportunity Stories offers, with the sports brand attracting over 800,000 views in 24 hours since the update’s release.

According to a recent study, the average number of Instagram posts per user dropped between 2013 and 2015- might Stories be a way to increase the app’s popularity? The new feature might certainly help brands expand their content strategy, with a move from image-based content, towards video. We envisage an increase in B2B companies starting to see value in Instagram, using Stories to share a timeline of posts charting “behind the scenes” daily activity from the work place or events. This will also allow for a greater emphasis on live content, keeping followers updated in an interactive manner. We also like the fact that users will able to choose which stories they want to view, rather than these automatically being shown in their feeds. This will allow brands to perhaps focus less on publishing posts, so as not to bombard followers, and create more engaging story-based content which users can choose to view at their leisure. The added function of private messaging in response to these stories, will also help brands expand their personal communications with followers.

It looks as though Instagram Stories might just have the edge over Snapchat, with content and brand profiles more easily discoverable thanks to Instagram displaying these so prominently at the top of users’ feeds. And unlike Snapchat where users have to know the company or person’s username before following them, Instagram makes it easy for users to search for their favourite brands and stories. In addition, since the app’s Stories format is so similar to Snapchat, might we see brands solely using Instagram instead, especially if they already have more traction there? We’ll be keeping an eye on future results!

What do you think about Instagram’s new feature? Do you think it will help expand the app’s ever-growing base of users and brands? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.