Copycat Snapchat

More stories from Libby Reach

Copycat+Snapchat

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Snapchat must be smiling. 

“It is noticeable that Instagram copies what Snapchat can do; everything is pretty much the same,” Dane Bower, sophomore, said. 

Students who use the social media apps Snapchat and Instagram have been seeing some changes. Originally, Snapchat introduced stories, where posts stay up for 24 hours. Soon after, Instagram came out with these temporary posts.  

“Instagram stories are better than Snapchat stories because of the polls, stickers, and music you can use,” Erin Aycoth, freshman, said. 

Another example of Instagram copying Snapchat is the feature where photos via direct message disappear after a certain amount of time, called Instasnap. Instagram mainly focuses on posting photos and videos that stay on profiles as long as wanted, so the direct message and Instasnap feature is less popular than on Snapchat. 

“Instagram copied Snapchat, but I’m not mad about it,” Carter Lewis, junior, said.  

Out of a survey of 136 Etowah students who use Snapchat and Instagram, over three-fourths of them thought the Snapchat filters were far better than the ones on Instagram. While Instagram did copy Snapchat’s filters, they do not have the exact same faces.  

“The filters on Snapchat are so much better, and Instagram tried to copy them, but did a horrific job,” Riley Miller, freshman, said. 

The most recent conflict between the Snapchat and Instagram worlds is “private stories” or “close friends.” This is the same thing as a story, which is a temporary post, but the user gets to choose which followers can see it. This group is called “private story” on Snapchat and “close friends” on Instagram. 

“I was kind of surprised that Instagram would copy Snapchat with the private stories because Snapchat was its own thing, and now Instagram is taking over. It seems more original to use private stories for Snapchat, so I don’t do it on Instagram,” Ryan Lofland, freshman, said. 

There are rumors that Instagram owns Snapchat, but the truth is Facebook owns both and controls what features it wants on both apps. 

“I prefer Snapchat because I spend more time on it. I also meet more friends and become closer with people through snapchatting,” Caroline Booth, senior, said. 

Regardless of which app students prefer, all can agree that two choices are always better than one.