What Does Youth Prefer? Snapchat vs. Instagram
In today’s digital landscape, social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram are competing with each other for maximum attention from the targeted audiences. Gone are the days when MySpace had its fearsome monopolistic power and it ruled the web. Today, everyone on the web has to compete to gain a maximum audience and retain them on a single platform.
This brand fight can be observed in the case of Snapchat and Instagram, the hottest social media app trends for youngsters.
According to a reliable source, 21.7% of the social media users are aged between 18 to 24 years, which is the second-largest user group active on social channels. Thus, it’s the focus group for brands.
Brands are finding it difficult to keep their audience engaged and therefore, try something new almost every other day to lure the young generation.
Instagram and Snapchat, both the applications, include real-time sharing of photos and videos which is the trend that excites young people. It allows them to display their creativity and the freedom to express themselves via intriguing photos and videos. As a result, thousands of teens are flocking to these apps every day.
On comparing the number of downloads of each app on the Google Play store, we can get an idea of their popularity. One might also conclude that which app is preferred by the youngest demographic. But, the reality is just the reverse.
Instagram got a head start in 2010 — gained its popularity in 2012 when this Facebook-owned photo-sharing app launched for android.
However, Snapchat was launched in 2011, became the hottest app for teens in 2013 with 10 million active users.
SURVEYS SHOW SNAPCHAT IS PREFERED BY THE YOUTH
According to Business Insider’s — “Taking Stock With Teens” survey, teens prefer Snapchat over any other social media channel. 6,350 participants shared their thoughts on social media networking, likes, and dislikes. “Unlike Instagram, Snapchat is fun to use and involves less time in posting,” they said.
Just like Facebook, Instagram stores information. Showcase your past, exhibit pictures of an entire life — displays which filter is used — what captions were written when posted — which is a difficult conundrum for users who seek perfection. They toggle from one app to another and stick with the ones that are less time-consuming and more enticing. Thus, the audience at Instagram is reducing day by day.
On the contrary, Snapchat offers a wide range of functionalities that keep its audience tempting. It’s compelling filters, funny face swaps make the overall photo and video sharing less serious and way more fun. Snapchat is an on-go sharing app. It’s less professional and more intimate. The content posted on Snapchat is deleted within 24 hours and thus, users are more active on Snapchat. Users are more likely to post real content on Snapchat as it offers more privacy and gives a sense of freshness to the content posted.
In the Nutshell:
Social media trends are changing day by day and the youth is attracted to social media apps which are facilitating them to express themselves with minimal efforts and less time which is convincingly Snapchat in today’s time. Today, Snapchat and Instagram, both the apps are competing to be unique but Snapchat still has a slight edge over Instagram when it comes to usage.
One part of Snapchat is often viewed by advertisers as a possible sanctuary from amateur posts that characterize a great deal of social media, created by consumers or aspiring Internet stars, rather than by experts in media companies.
Because of this, understanding where teens spend much of their time and capitalizing on their interest is important for brands aiming to reach younger audiences and maximize visibility to teenagers. As polls and testimonials from real-life teenagers indicate, young people are now increasingly supporting Snapchat over Instagram, and businesses can hopefully replicate this change by devoting more money to strategic campaigns for Snapchat including Snapchat Takeovers and partnering with today’s top Snapchat influencer.
Snapchat is catching up in many ways too. In the past year, the business has moved to a self-service ad program focused on an auction, which marketers say has made it much easier for smaller advertisers to purchase in particular. These programs now exist on Facebook and Instagram.
Conclusion:
If you want to reach teens, you should look at Snapchat and Instagram and younger users also tend to drive social adoption trends that suggest both are worth keeping in touch. You may have been less likely to invest as much in the current consumer mood of Snapchat, but with young users, it still has a definite attraction.
