In the year 2012, Facebook made a huge spend amounting to $1 Billion. The reason? It went ahead to buy the not-so-popular, photo-sharing app Instagram! But why would Facebook spend so much on an app which wasn’t even performing exceedingly well? The answer was simple. Facebook wanted to come as a strong frontrunner in the world of mobile, and Instagram was the answer.
When this path-breaking purchase was made, Facebook was clear about one aspect – Instagram will be kept independent, and will not be integrated into the parent app. Little did anyone know at that point in time, that this seemingly tiny photo-sharing app, will one day give stiff competition to Facebook. Well, that day has arrived and how!
Usage Statistics
As per the research firm eMarketer, in the year 2017, Facebook lost as many as 2.8 million users under 25, in the United States alone. This is the first time, the social networking giants have experienced such a significant decline in users, and if speculations are to be believed the situation is not going to improve anytime soon. On the other hand, www.statista.com reports an increase in active monthly users on Instagram from 600 million in December 2016, to 800 million in September 2017.
Many experts are now predicting, that Instagram will take over Facebook in user statistics by the end of 2020.
Mobile Friendliness
With large-screen smartphones, iPads, and Tablets making their way into the common man’s lifestyle, mobile friendliness is a key feature in determining the success of a social media network. Thanks to its humble origins on this very platform, Instagram offers a much better experience to the users!
Story Integration
Neither Instagram nor Facebook came up with the revolutionary idea of self-destructing stories. It was, in fact, brought about by Snapchat. But, Instagram proved to be more successful in integrating it with its platform, while Facebook seemed to be at a loss both – in displaying the stories on the newsfeed, as well as force feeding them to the users via Facebook Messenger.
And do we even need to tell you, Instagram even managed to beat Snapchat at the ‘stories’ game. Well, that’s the trait of a winner!
Integration of E-Commerce
All major social media networks are availed to the average user, completely free of cost. It is the ad revenues from e-commerce businesses that keep these networks up and running. While Facebook was the first to integrate e-commerce into the experience, it did not gain much success. The reason was simple. The layout looked forced, and rather than attracting the users, it started to put them off. Another problem? Facebook went too far with the idea, so much so that an average timeline today looks more like a stream of ads than one filled with relevant posts from friends and family.
Instagram on the other hand, was more sophisticated with its approach. It integrated the commerce in a rather effortless manner. And now with its in-app payment feature, it wouldn’t be wrong to say, that the platform has mastered the art of selling stuff online!
The Vibe
The vibe generated by a platform is a rather subjective issue, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say that trolling is something that has almost always be a part of Facebook, and for some reason, the giant hasn’t done enough to control the same.
Instagram, on the other hand, seems to be on the better side of things. If it is just by sheer luck or by design, we couldn’t say. But looks like, the community is a little more sophisticated here and doesn’t like to make a fiasco of every little thing.
The verdict? Instagram offers a more positive and pleasing experience, though not to a huge extent!
All being said, the fact that Facebook still entertains 2.20 billion active monthly users, is enough to mock Instagram’s rather minuscule count of 800 million active monthly users. Whether the latter is able to take over its parent company in this aspect, is something which only time can truly tell!