Are they any different ?— Facebook vs Instagram

Social Media Content Analysis

Social media is now recognised as an excellent communication tool to connect with people around. The two most popular social media platforms widely used are Facebook and Instagram. Facebook and Instagram have completely changed the way people open up to share about themselves, their personal likes and dislikes and about their thoughts and opinions on different issues. While these websites/platforms were made for general public use, recently it appears that there is an exhaustive use of these platforms for marketing and branding by different brands due to the available target audience of all possible domains. While youngsters have picked up social media as there favourite pastime, elders are not far behind. A large number of parents and elderly have recently started using social media and it’s just amazing to see how more and more people are accepting this form of media. But what is so special about this medium ? What is so fascinating about Facebook or say Instagram ? Is it about the content that appears on these sites or is it about the way this content is presented to the audience?

Which is better, Facebook or Instagram ?It’s a very subjective question. Although the number of users are more on Facebook due to it’s time period and popularity and the ability to connect to your social circle, I personally feel Instagram is better!

Facebook :

Facebook is a larger community of people as compared to Instagram. It is due to the same reason that content on Facebook comes from a larger number of users and hence sometimes it seems to be futile. A large number of brands and publications have started using Facebook as the core platform for advertisement. A huge number of different sub communities within Facebook are defined through different pages and groups based on some common context, be it your college group, your family group or groups based on your interests like music, dance, sports and so on. Celebrities and brands have their own pages through which they publish about themselves.

A Facebook user is exposed to of the content coming from all of these different sub communities and sometimes it becomes overwhelming. Different activities by your friends and followers appear into your news feed and seek your attention. Images and videos that trend on these platforms appear multiple times in the feed due to large user base with community that keeps it active through regular sharing.

In my opinion, the content on Facebook is both relevant and irrelevant at the same time. On one hand it is important to keep oneself updated as important news and updates about different sub communities keeps coming while due to the overuse and misuse of the freedom to literally share anything on Facebook has lost it’s value and the content irrelevant many a times.

Do you know why Facebook is such a hit ? Because it works on the principle that most people are more interested in other’s lives than their own.

Instagram :

Instagram on the other hand is much personalised and private to use as compared to Facebook.The primary use for Instagram is for customers to follow brands, companies, and celebrities. Just to give you an idea, after Instagram’s own account, the next 12 most popular accounts are all celebrities!

Instagram uses photos/videos as the primary focus of content appearing on there sites. These photos and videos mostly appear from the people you ‘follow’. Different activities by different followers (just like a friend commenting on other friends photo- which appears as a notification for Facebook users )is not a matter of concern as long as Instagram is considered. The stories feature makes Instagram more unique in terms of the content. The stories contains content that is really instantaneously shot and posted ( at least most of the time ) and that is what makes the content of Instagram more personal for users at both the ends.

Unlike Facebook, Instagram is not over stuffed with media content and it’s still limited. Maximum video length on any Instagram post is limited to 1 minute and it actually makes it crucial for the one sharing it to optimise that duration and talk about curated content only.

Still many different pages from your favourite celebrities and other brands exist on Instagram but they do not seem to pop out in your feed out of nowhere unlike Facebook.

Most importantly Instagram is not about your social circle primarily! It is about exploring topics you like visually! It is about seeing your favourite celebrity in action throughout the day! Everything is instant! Even though Facebook has similar features, it somehow does not click.

Do let me know your thoughts on the same and suggestions and recommendations are always welcome :) Thank you !