The latest WhatsApp update includes a feature Snapchat users are familiar with, but the company's investors are taking Facebook's tactics quite differently. The upcoming feature of the Facebook-owned WhatsApp shamelessly takes cues from Snapchat Stories.
According to Variety, the WhatsApp version of Stories is called Status Monday. In layman's terms, it's WhatsApp's take on Snapchat Stories, albeit with some privacy features to make it its own.
Shared images on Status Monday will eventually expire after a 24-hour period. WhatsApp is also upping the ante on it's security feature by providing "end-to-end encryption" to ensure chat messages between friends stay among them.
This also prevents uninvited eavesdroppers from intercepting a group's conversation. In addition, Facebook-owned app Instagram also came up with a feature that closely resembles, yet again, Snapchat Stories.
The source mentioned that Instagram themselves admitted that their new feature takes inspiration from Snapchat. By freely admitting that they're taking and re-branding Snapchat's features, Facebook is clearly showing that they're not threatened of the consequences.
After all, Facebook is benefiting from features that Snapchat first introduced, and turning these features into their own. As a matter of fact, it's reported that Facebook has recorded an estimated 150 million users, who use the Stories feature in Instagram, everyday.
Facebook's marketing maneuvers indicates that they're disregarding Snapchat's boundaries. While it's natural to assume that Snapchat is taking offense out of Facebook's tactics, that's strangely not the case.
According to Recode, a Snapchat key investor responded to Facebook's shameless copying of features. Light Speed Venture Partners' Jeremy Liew doesn't feel that Facebook's marketing tactics are a cause for concern. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.", Liew added.
Recent reports indicate that the company's stock shares could reach up to $18 billion. The total amount could even go as high as $22 billion, according to the source. If this is the case, then Facebook's attempts at copying Snapchat features are pretty much the least of Snapchat's problems.
