We've all seen The Social Network. After the whole Winklevoss fiasco (where the Olympic twins claimed Mark Zuckerberg pinched their idea, then settled for a payout and shares worth hundreds of millions), you'd have thought Facebook would be a little more coy when it came to brazenly copying the work of others.
Turns out they're not.
Introducing Instagram Stories, a new feature on (Facebook owned) Instagram that allows users to share content - content that appears as a slideshow, then vanishes 24-hour after it's posted.
"You don’t have to worry about overposting," goes the Instagram blog. "Instead, you can share as much as you want throughout the day — with as much creativity as you want. You can bring your story to life in new ways with text and drawing tools. The photos and videos will disappear after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or in feed."
Now, if you're suffering a sudden bout of deja-vu - you're not the only one.
Yes. It does sound exactly like Snapchat, doesn't it?
Funny thing is, Instagram's not even bothering to plead ignorance on this one. “They deserve all the credit,” Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom told TechCrunch, before adding the caveat, “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.”
In fairness, Snapchat can't really throw stones. After all, their house is made from the finest glass. Last month they launched Memories, a service reminiscent of Facebook's On This Day (which Facebook, in turn, pilfered from TimeHop).
The question is, then, just how similar is Instachat, anyway? Sorry, we mean Snapstergram? No, that's not right either. Instagram Stories?
What's the same?
What's different?
Here's a nice video showing it off
