Snap Inc.’s CEO Evan Spiegel has targeted Facebook launching a critique that dismisses both the appeal and success of the latter. At the Code Conference in California yesterday, May 29, Spiegel thrashed his bigger rival just before Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO took the stage.
The conference was held in Rancho Palos Verdes of, California, where Spiegel said that Facebook is copying the popular features of Snapchat “bothers my wife more than it bothers me.” He added that his company’s mission ” runs counter to traditional social media.”
Snapchat is known for sharing ephemeral messages and videos. Its proprietary feature ‘stories’ lets users post videos of happenings within the day. These videos stay in the app for 24 hours. Facebook successfully copied this feature and brought it across all of its apps, from WhatsApp to Instagram. Successfully indeed, as these platforms currently have way more users than Snap!
It is natural that people won’t find it useful to sign up for another platform like Snapchat when the already more established and popular Facebook lets them do the same thing! According to analysts, Facebook’s success has resulted in halting Snap’s growth.
At Snapchat it’s all about building deeper relationships with the people that you’re close to. (At Facebook) they are having trouble changing the DNA of their company, which is all about people competing with each other for attention. – Evan Spiegel
He also mentioned that Facebook copying wasn’t one of the issues he faced. Since March 2017, when Snapchat was taken to be public, Spiegel had to go through frequent executive turnover, employee morale issues, and failed out of redesigning its core app.
Be it out of restless sarcasm or pure pride; he said: “If you can create something that is so beautiful and simple that the only thing other people can do is copy it exactly, that is the most fantastic feeling. It is the most fantastic thing in the entire world.”
Snapchat fans would love to see tables turned for their favorite social media, albeit not likely for Facebook’s advancements and expansions in the tech industry with AI and AR/VR that are beyond being just a social media platform.
