Snapchat or Instagram, the question is now?!

Everyone living on the planet Earth, in a possession of a smartphone and an access to the Internet has probably noticed that the social media community was shaken up by yesterday's news - Instagram introduced a new feature called Stories. You may think it's just another update but once you start using Instagram Stories you will notice that the feature seems so familiar, especially if you are a Snapchat user. Or let's be honest...Instagram Stories do exactly what Snapchat is made for - allowing users to update their audience with short videos and photos that will disappear after 24 hours.

Instagram is not the first social platform to do this 'crime'. In fact, all major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat at certain point 'borrowed' some features or ideas from their counterparts. Twitter traded its iconic feature 'favourite', represented by a star, for a 'like' represented by a heart which was been introduced by Instagram. Facebook recently incorporated an option for live video which Twitter launched a year ago when it bought Periscope. Snapchat uses filters which have become famous because of Instagram. The concept of LinkedIn is basically Facebook just with a professional purpose. The list goes on and on which leads us to the question - is there such thing as an original idea?

Kevin Systrom, CEO of Instagram, shared an interesting insight into social media world in yesterday's interview for Tech Crunch. After admitting that Snapchat "deserves all the credit", Systrom explained the following:

This isn’t about who invented something. This is about a format, and how you take it to a network and put your own spin on it...Gmail was not the first email client. Google Maps was certainly not the first map. The iPhone was definitely not the first phone. The question is what do you do with that format? What do you do with that idea? Do you build on it? Do you add new things? Are you trying to bring it in a new direction?

Although Systrom's explanation serves as a valid argument, what does this approach mean for the future of the social media industry? I would imagine that if major social media platforms continue to act this way, they will soon loose their authentic features and pretty much offer the same product with a different name to their users.

Due to its similarities to Snapchat, Instagram's new feature is not accepted well. However, millions of Instagram users are testing it so this update might turn out to be a success.

Here are 5 reasons why I enjoy Instagram stories:

1. More filters for the 'snaps'
2. Neon marker is simply amazing
3. Most of my friends use Instagram but not so many use Snapchat, therefore I can share my moments with a wider community
4. It's very simple to follow other people's stories while on Snapchat you need to know the exact username and add a person in order to do so
5. I can have all my photos, friends, moments and filters in one place

All in all, this might be a good move for Snapstagram...oops Instagram.