Instagram has Collections, TikTok Carousels and Youtube Shorts: are all platforms becoming the same?

After aimlessly scrolling through Youtube Shorts and Instagram Reels for half an hour, why not take a moment to relax from short-form video content with a 10-minute long TikTok video? If you’re a regular social media user, you might have noticed that all apps are starting to look more alike than ever. 

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But why are all these apps becoming more and more similar? 

In 2013, Snapchat released a new feature that was eventually copied by the world of social media: Stories. Soon after the release, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Messenger and Youtube added Stories to their platform. 

While the Story feature was quickly implemented in every platform, TikTok’s “For You Page” was a bit more complicated, as this wasn’t simply a new feature, but would give each app a whole new setup to display the endless videos that users can scroll through. This resulted in entirely separate feeds that trigger scrolling through content and was the start of Youtube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, and Instagram and Pinterest Reels. 

The reason for this is simple: because the features are copied work. The main objective of these apps is that their users have an enjoyable experience, and the numbers don’t lie: in 2021, TikTok was the most visited website, overruling Facebook and Google. Essentially, every platform is trying to become the market leader for all formats rather than focusing on the format that is already working for them. 

But with the apps becoming increasingly similar, aren’t they also becoming more replaceable and interchangeable? And to whose benefit are these changes? Many of these changes aren’t requested by the users, as most will use the app for their core features. Shouldn't the platforms focus on their core features if the platform’s main objective is to deliver an enjoyable experience to their users? When an app announces new features copied from another platform, they’re most likely not doing so to benefit the users they already have but to draw in new users. Because while differentiating yourself from the market is often the key to success, this can’t be achieved without growth. 

Wondering what the latest platform updates are and how your brand can use these to its benefit? Don’t hesitate to contact us; we’ll tell you all about it!

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