What's The Story?

Let’s be real for a minute. We were all against Instagram launching stories in 2017. Like who are they trying to kid copying Snapchat like that? I will be the first to admit to thinking Instagram stories were annoying and unnecessary. On top of Instagram trying to be Snapchat, we now have Facebook in the game just trying to catch up to the latest trend. I am also now a hypocrite as I post an Instagram story almost every day nowadays. What can I say? I like the whole Boomerang thing Instagram has going. For those of you who don’t know what the term “boomerang” refers to then you should probably look it up. The best description I can give is that it’s a repetitive little video loop that has no sound. Below is a video of one that some friends and I took at leadership conference over the past weekend. I will say, though, that I am still anti Facebook stories. I don’t have a specific reason for that, it’s just how I feel.

Let’s take a step back to realize that even though social medias platforms are just using Snapchat’s idea, they are using the idea strategically. Snapchat became the number one social media and network site used by teenagers and young adults in 2017, with Facebook and Instagram following close behind. So what would be the best way to give them a boost to impress the teenagers and young adult demographic? STORIES.

Through different project I’ve done and papers I’ve written in college so far about social media and marketing, I’ve learned that millennials have taken over the market. Companies must focus on how to persuade millennials when attempting to grow and expand their products. Another thing I’ve learned is that millennials LOVE personalization. It’s a “way of life” for them so to speak. Sure, you can post your personal photos and think of clever captions on Instagram, or make a unique post to get reactions on Facebook, but stories take that feeling of personalization one step further. Stories are also a good tool that can be used for advertisement for companies, so they reach beyond just millennials.

Snapchat allows users to capture what they are experiencing in the moment and sharing it with several “friends” at a time. It also allows users to uploading videos or pictures just like you could on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. The only catch is that they only last 24 hours rather than forever. Snapchat competitors realized it was time to step up their game and offer the same intriguing qualities to lessen Snapchat’s appeal. Therefore, Instagram and Facebook now have options to have stories on their applications. However, unlike Facebook, Instagram made their stories unique by offering Boomerang, which I explained earlier in this post.

Social media will only continue to grow in the new year and for years to come. The only way for social media platforms to compete with each other is to increase personalization and use each other’s ideas I guess. I will continue to use Snapchat and Instagram stories loyally…stay tuned to see if I can offer that kind of commitment to Facebook stories as well. Hint: I probably can’t.