As a blogger it is important to see a purpose for every type of social media. Facebook/Twitter is where I share my blog posts. Instagram is primarily outfits with the occasional meme, food picture, or miscellaneous lifestyle post. Snapchat is where I share my day to day.
For some people, Snapchat is their own personal reality shows. Showing their activities from morning until night. I work an office job as an executive assistant, so Snapchat is generally reserved for my life outside of the office. My posts consist of me playing with filters and random funny things I see on a regular day. During "exciting" times in my life you will get a lot more out of it. For example, if I am away for the weekend or out with friends, at a fun blogging event, or at a fashion show. These things happen pretty frequently so my snap story does not disappoint (in my opinion). Don't let the puppy filter fool you.
Of all social media platforms, I tend to be the most active on Snapchat lately (post at least once a day). It is the only form of social media where I feel comfortable doing one post after the other from day to night. The fact that everything expires after 24 hours is definitely a factor in this. I would never post five pictures/videos in one day on Instagram (have never exceeded three), but on snapchat I've posted upwards of 20 (especially during Fashion Week).
Why this social media rant? Well, in my mind every form of social media has its place. Each serves its purpose and serves it very well. It was a perfect harmony. That was until yesterday. Instagram decided that it wanted a solo and rolled out its own story feature. It looks exactly like Snapchat and appears at the top of your feed. You can go about your business and ignore it, but honestly with it being there you can't help but look. So my question is why?
I know companies compete, but was this really necessary? To literally add the one feature that made Snapchat unique? Is anything sacred? I know, that's dramatic. But really, why?!
Also, it complicates things for us bloggers. There is just so much to keep up with. Part of me wants to go about my business and pretend it doesn't exist, but in the back of my mind I am wondering if will I be missing out on connecting with my followers if I do.
There is no doubt that for many of us our Instagram presence is greater than our Snapchat presence. It is also a lot easier to get eyes on your story since they are already on Instagram looking at your pictures. So, not utilizing that feature would be foolish right?
Snapchat is so good though! Did we really need a duplicate? I'm torn, but I can't deny that I will be using the story feature on Instagram. Begrudgingly, of course. 😳
PS - follow me Instagram/Snapchat if you aren't already. My username is, you guessed it, lexlovescouture.