Instagram’s CEO Just Shamelessly Admitted That He Totally Copied Snapchat

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has confessed that Snapchat deserves “all the credit” for Stories, a new Instagram feature that allows users to “share all the moments” of their day.

With Instagram Stories, users can upload multiple photos and videos without over posting, as they come together in slideshow format. Interestingly, they also disappear after 24 hours. Systrom told TechCrunch:

“When you are an innovator, that’s awesome. Just like Instagram deserves all the credit for bringing filters to the forefront. 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.”

The 32-year-old executive went on to point out which companies invented what, stressing the innovative culture at Silicon Valley.

“I think what you see is that every company looks around and adopts the best of the best formats or state-of-the-art technology. Snapchat adopted face filters that existed elsewhere first, right? And slideshows existed in other places too. Flipagram was doing it for a while. So I think that’s the interesting part of the Valley. You can’t just recreate another product. But you can say ‘what’s really awesome about a format? And does it apply to our network?’”

Instagram Stories includes stickers, drawing and text tools. New Stories, surrounded by colorful rings, are accessible from the bar at the top of one’s feed. However, it is not possible to “like” and write public comments on these posts.

“We’re bringing some new creative outlets with ‘neon drawing’”. Systrom said. “You have different ways of navigating back and forth with this. You have a completely different audience. If you’re a business, if you’re a celebrity, if you’re an interest-based account, you can have a giant audience. It’s going to feel very different. I don’t believe these two things are substitutes, and that’s okay.”

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