WhatsApp Status or Facebook Stories?
An hour before writing this blog, I took pride in NOT being an avid social media user- especially when it came to Insta or Snapchat. “Why?”- my friends would ask me to which my reply used to go like- “Why do I need another app simply for posting a few pictures?” or “I hate the dog filter”. I wouldn’t have paid any heed to it had I not been given a class assignment to look into it in more detail. What amazed me is a novel form of content or social media which not only formed the basis for the founding of a new social media platform in 2013 but also got cloned into existing social media giants in the years to follow. Yup! I’m talking about the stories. But it still didn’t convince me to betray my beloved Whatsapp and Messenger? Why do I need another app simply for posting a few stories? (note that here I’m using stories to denote a new form of media). I sense you’re now like- “Stop beating around the bush and get to the point, Ashutosh! What is this blog about?”. Well this blog is about which platform I’m gonna use to post my first story announcing my first blog- Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp?
Okay, so first let’s explore WhatsApp stories aka Status and Facebook stories aka Stories (redundant!). Give me a minute.
Okay I’m back. Upon a quick look at Whatsapp status, I found it clean or what my Apple-maniac friend would call- ‘minimalistic’. All features are discernible with functionalities for adding both text and images and browsing your friends’ stories. It also provides option to add filters, stickers (Whatsapp stickers!) and scribbles to images with quick access to recent photos. The status tab is at the same level of navigation as calls and chats, hence clearly establishing it as a new form of media.
Facebook Messenger stories feature on the other hand has been integrated into Messages tab itself. Though it saves a lot of space, but confused me a bit initially. Are the people beside “Add to your story” button active or have just shared a story? Oh there’s another tab for active people! Well it must only show story people then. Oh no, when there’s a blue outline around the circle (apparently two circles), means that a person has uploaded a story. Okay! Confusing or I must say involved a lot of thinking.
The interface for adding to a story looks quite similar to that of WhatsApp. Figuring out how to add text took me a while (“Swipe right”. Duh!!). Access to camera images- a click away or a swipe away. Augmented Reality stickers! That’s cool. Does that make me wanna use Facebook story to make my announcement? No. How do I decide then?
The designer in me says- “WhatsApp is clean and functional, just the way you like it! Have some respect. Use WhatsApp”. As a human (or user), who’s a tech-savvy millennial looking to reach out a wide audience and establish himself as a published blogger, I would make my decision simply on the basis of who do I wanna share this with- thousands of people including friends, co-workers and strangers (or Angel Priya) or just a few of my personal contacts on WhatsApp? Given my tech-savvy behaviour it didn’t take me much time to figure out the diverse functionalities of Facebook stories. So Facebook it is!
Then what’s the purpose of this entire interface analysis! Why focus on design then? Why don’t we discuss it in the comment box below? Meanwhile, let me now announce my first blog on Facebook. Check my Facebook timeline for the link. “But you said Facebook stories, Ashutosh”. Yup! Getting there. I’m just gonna add a ‘Feeling accomplished’ picture on my Facebook story.
