Did Instagram Just Steal Storytelling from Snapchat?

Instagram has been fighting a losing battle of late to rising GenZ platform gone mainstream, Snapchat.

The MO of Snapchat was Stories, the disappearing urgency of a personal moment encapsulated. 

With Instagram on Tuesday introducing Stories, Instagram has basically conceded it's an inferior brand losing a battle to an upstart that understands young people better. (not to mention video marketing, and all that it entails)

But what can you expect, it's Facebook we are talking about after all, that wants another cash cow. 

While stealing features is nothing new for social media, Instagram using hashtags (and up to 30) didn't feel like a rip-off of Twitter, that is immeasurably more Newsy and trendy and legit for a generation when educational content and actually connecting people was the point and not just eye-candy click-bait that has no deeper relevance.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like Instagram. 

But, trying to steal or copy a major feature of a direct competitors, feels totally off. It's blatantly a horrible PR move and not hard to gage public opinion on this one.

Facebook is worried, since we don't actually share personal stuff there anymore, that is, if we are a reasonable age.

Hurrah, Snapchat is actually the only app not in a horrible decline: 

Oh okay, PokemonGo and Uber might be okay as well! So the latest Instagram update then, has a series of circular avatars at the top of your feed, so people can now have stories augmented with stickers, drawings and text. Supposedly this would lead to more Instagram direct messages. Can you feel it?

Could Snapchat not patent this stuff? Here's to Facebook's enormous greed! Ironically, Instagram openly acknowledges the "similarities". 

“Stories are a new format that’s just starting to see broad adoption, and we’re excited to bring them to Instagram and help evolve them..."

I think you mean steal them. (Snapchat declined to comment). In a winner-takes-all ecosystem where most apps are dead before they are even released, and consumers are lazy as heck as to the pain of downloading, remembering and entering them, Snapchat is a generational talent. 

When the majority of Instagram profiles I know have their snapchat ID in the bio, you have to feel almost sorry for digital giants that lose their identity and grasp at companies they couldn't buy out with imitations and market games. 

Does it bother you that Instagram copied Stories from Snapchat? Which do you prefer and why?