Facebook, Snapchat and Competition
Can Facebook beat every rival that comes its way? The company, after having cemented its status as the largest social network, went on a buying spree of what could potentially be the future social networks, a strategy that has served it very well in the longer run. For the tech giant is now also the owner of Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which originated as a built-in feature within Facebook but has since then become a separate messaging entity of its own.
With Zuck & Co. controlling four of the biggest social networks in the world, they perhaps don't have to worry about rivals like Snapchat (which Facebook failed to acquire in 2013) making any noticeable dent in market share. Why? Because they can just copy whatever the competition offers and users will be happy. It has happened before with followers (from Twitter), check-in (from Foursquare) and live-video (from Periscope and Meerkat), it continues to happen with Stories, ephemeral messaging and camera effects (from Snapchat), and in all likelihood will happen in the future too.
This 'copying' is not bad per se. Take Android and iOS for example. Both operating systems are pretty mature and stable at this point, thus obviating the need for broad sweeping changes with every new version. As a result, Android Oreo and iOS 11 aren't really about big obvious features. Instead it's a sum of many many smaller changes borrowed from each other, thereby making them more powerful and feature complete. It's the same with Facebook as well.
Which is why recent reports that teens are leaving the social network for Instagram and Snapchat is good news for competition. That's not all. Snapchat, according to new data published by BTIG Research, also witnessed a jump in the amount of time its users spend using the app (32.8 minutes per day) despite its overall sluggish growth. While losing relevance among a lucrative ad demographic is worrisome, the fact that Facebook owns Instagram can help offset the decline. But for how long? An infinitely better tactic for Facebook/Instagram and Snapchat would be to co-exist and thrive off of each other.
With Zuck & Co. controlling four of the biggest social networks in the world, they perhaps don't have to worry about rivals like Snapchat (which Facebook failed to acquire in 2013) making any noticeable dent in market share. Why? Because they can just copy whatever the competition offers and users will be happy. It has happened before with followers (from Twitter), check-in (from Foursquare) and live-video (from Periscope and Meerkat), it continues to happen with Stories, ephemeral messaging and camera effects (from Snapchat), and in all likelihood will happen in the future too.
This 'copying' is not bad per se. Take Android and iOS for example. Both operating systems are pretty mature and stable at this point, thus obviating the need for broad sweeping changes with every new version. As a result, Android Oreo and iOS 11 aren't really about big obvious features. Instead it's a sum of many many smaller changes borrowed from each other, thereby making them more powerful and feature complete. It's the same with Facebook as well.
Which is why recent reports that teens are leaving the social network for Instagram and Snapchat is good news for competition. That's not all. Snapchat, according to new data published by BTIG Research, also witnessed a jump in the amount of time its users spend using the app (32.8 minutes per day) despite its overall sluggish growth. While losing relevance among a lucrative ad demographic is worrisome, the fact that Facebook owns Instagram can help offset the decline. But for how long? An infinitely better tactic for Facebook/Instagram and Snapchat would be to co-exist and thrive off of each other.
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