It normally goes the other way around, but this time, Snapchat’s copying Instagram, with a new text-styles feature, similar to Instagram’s recently launched ‘Type Mode’.
It’s a fairly straight-forward addition – when typing, users will now see an additional text option to switch to new ‘Glow’ and ‘Rainbow’ fonts, providing a new way to spice up your Snaps. The new text options are being rolled out as part of Snap’s broader re-design, which is currently available to users in the U.K., Australia and Canada, and is gradually being brought to new regions.
Last week, Instagram confirmed their new ‘Type Mode’ which provides a range of new text-only presentation options for Stories.
The new option, which had been spotted earlier in the month, provided another unique option for Instagram’s popular Stories format, which has already expanded well-beyond the usage rates of Snapchat’s original Stories tool. In fact, data shows that Stories adoption on Snapchat is slowing, which suggests that Instagram is now the leading Stories platform. Add to that the fact that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently noted that:
“Stories are on track to overtake posts in feeds as the most common way that people share across all social apps.”
And it’s clear that Facebook plans to maintain its focus on developing the format, and building more innovative, advanced tools, heaping even more pressure on Snapchat.
That leaves Snap playing catch-up, in the format they created, which has gotta’ sting a little. But even worse, as more people share more content on Facebook apps, that leaves less time for Snapchat overall. We’ll find out more on this later in the week, with Snap Inc. set to report its latest earnings results, but the app’s growth figures are expected to continue their sluggish momentum.
What does that mean for Snap long-term? It’s hard to say – it still remains hugely popular among teens, and 178 million daily users, in the lucrative Millennial segment, offers major potential for many advertisers. But will that be enough? Will Snap being able to re-ignite its momentum with Facebook moving to dominate its key offerings – and in regions where Snap hasn’t yet gained a foothold?
As noted, we’ll get more detail on Snap’s progress later in the week, but the switch of Facebook from follower to leader in the Stories game may be more significant than it, initially, might seem.