Back in 2013, Snapchat only had two years in business and it was having such a great moment that social media giant Facebook tries to buy the company for $3 billion in cash. Although many thought that Snapchat should have accepted the acquisition, this company decided to reject the deal and show in the next years that it had the potential to build something greater.
Copying Snapchat´s Features Would Make Steal Some Of Its Users
It was a bold decision from CEO Evan Spiegel, considering that Mark Zuckerberg wanted to buy his company since it was becoming the most dangerous competitor in the most important feature: photo sharing. Since then, Facebook started a war against Snapchat, in which the main weapon would only be a single strategy: to copy its best features in order to steal users.
The reason for this move was mainly because although Facebook is the most important social media in the world, teens and millennials are not precisely the vast majority of its users, so copying Snapchat could make this group feel more attracted. Is it ugly? Yes, could this be considered a corporate bullying? Definitely, is it illegal? None in a bit, because even another social media as Instagram has also copied Snapchat´s features without a single problem, but that´s another history.
Teens And Millenials Doesn´t Feel Attracted To Facebook
Apparently, these groups of people are tending to leave Facebook and explore many other social media, since Mark Zuckerberg´s platform is looking a little bit boring and uncool for them. By its part, the Snapchat situation in this issue is totally the opposite, considering that most of its users are teens and millennials, to the point where it actually became the most popular and attractive social media for them, followed by Instagram and Twitter.
Facebook is in the fourth place, and this is precisely an alarm that shows which is the weak spot of the blue company. If this phenomenon keeps on its course, a possible scenario would be that Facebook declines its power as social media, giving the fact that the most important thing is users, and anyone could ask Twitter about that. This is why the blue company is cloning Snapchat´s features: to decrease its popularity among young people and gain a nice amount of these users.
The Importance Of Sending A Message To The Competition
The another important reason for Facebook to clone Snapchat´s features is to send a threatening message to its main competitor among teens and millennials, considering that Mark Zuckerberg don´t want to lose its first position as the most popular social media in the world, no matter what it takes. In fact, this represents a way of showing its teeth to everyone and set a precedent to any company who dare to be coolest and steal some of its users.
Although some media points that this action could also be based on the bitter relations between Zuckerberg and Spiegel, the truth is that this is only a move that even when it is extremely unethical, is not precisely new or surprising. In fact, many companies around the world tend to do this when it wants to defeat a threatening rival.
So far, Facebook has closed Snapchat´s features as Poke, Slingshot, Bolt, One-Hour Messages, News Feed-Only Posts, Quick Updates, Instagram Stories, and the recently launched Flash. Although it is not known how long will Facebook keep doing this, the truth is that it has been a little bit effective, since there is a high number of young people that are looking Facebook as if it was the first time.
