Instagram vs. Snapchat: The People's Choice

Table of Contents

1. Instagram VS Snapchat: An Introduction
2. Instagram VS Snapchat: History
3. Instagram VS Snapchat: Feature Review
4. Instagram VS Snapchat: Popularity
5. Instagram VS Snapchat: The People's Choice
   

Instagram VS Snapchat: An Introduction

Social media apps have the unique quality of making human interaction easier: gone are the days when people would have to travel far for meetings, dates and fun events. Instagram and Snapchat are two popular social media apps that have made the process of establishing connections and online marketing more hassle free.

Instagram is a social media app that helps users to share visual content like images and videos with their friends and followers. Today, the app is used by people all over the world to share work content, make new friends and sell their products online.

Snapchat is a fun social media platform where people share moments: pictures, stories and short videos are usually shared on the app. Snapchat's unique feature is that the pictures and messages are accessible for a specific period of time.

In today's article, I will be comparing Instagram and Snapchat side by side in terms of history, features and popularity. I will also be sharing my personal opinion on why these apps are popular among young people.

Instagram vs. Snapchat: History

Instagram was first launched in 2010 by Kevin Systrom, with the first prototype being a web app called Burbn. Instagram was designed to help people share pictures and videos: it became so popular that it recorded up to 25,000 users in just one day.

Instagram is now owned by Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg saw the potential in the budding app and decided it was worth a whopping $ 1 billion in the year 2012. Today, Instagram is worth over $10 billion and it contributes to over $20 billion to Facebook's yearly revenue.

Snapchat has its own story: sometime in 2011, a group of students at Stanford University namely Evan Spiegel, Reggie Brown and Bobby Murphy came together to build the concept of an app where people could share content that would disappear after a while.

The initial version, Picaboo was launched in July and since then, Snapchat has been constantly growing as a social media platform. In October of 2013, Snapchat launched the stories feature in which users could share content for up to 24 hours. Now, millions of people use Snapchat to watch and post short videos or view pictures of friends and colleagues. 

Instagram vs. Snapchat: Feature Review

Instagram has numerous features that keep users glued to the app: the filters, the messaging feature, Instagram stories, location tags, drawing tools, design, stickers and sharing experience.

Snapchat, on the other hand has its outstanding features to be the disappearing feature, filters and stories. Messages are sent with a sense of urgency: this is great for brand marketing.

Instagram generally has better designs, the whole design of Snapchat may seem overly vibrant and immature to a more older and conservative population. Instagram also provides an easier location tag placement than Snapchat.

Snapchat stands out because of the many fun filters and disappearing content that it offers users. You could leave a message for your crush knowing that after sometime, it wouldn't be seen. Screenshots of snaps often come with notifications for the person that posted the snap, unlike Instagram.

Instagram vs. Snapchat: Popularity

Instagram is more popular than Snapchat: according to the Google Play store it has a 4.4 out of 5 rating with 127 million reviews and over a billion downloads from people all over the globe.

A lot of young people use Instagram, but older people use the app too: Instagram has transcended beyond an app you just use to share pictures and videos, you can use it for your business too. Instagram is a great tool for skit makers, vloggers, models and digital marketers to grow their businesses.

Snapchat is growing too: with a 4.1 out of 5 rating on the Google Play store, 27 million reviews and over one billion downloads, I must say that the app is doing really well.

Snapchat is generally seen as an app for very young people: it provides a platform for fun and self-expression. Although it should not be your go-to app when you are trying to sell your products or services on social media, it is a viable option especially for items like clothes and makeup.

Instagram vs. Snapchat: The People's Choice

Instagram and Snapchat are two amazing apps created with the intention of fulfilling the human need to connect with other people. Both apps are doing amazingly well, and have exceeded set expectations.

Instagram is preferred by adult users between the ages of 25 to 34 because of the opportunity to access more professional content by choice and share work interactions.

Snapchat is preferred by teenage users who just want to have fun and live in the moment. The fun filters are their best feature provided by the app.

As for me, a young old person who deals with backaches from time to time I would say that Instagram is the people's choice because it attempts to cater to the needs of a larger proportion of the population irrespective of their age group.