Popular photo-sharing platform Instagram has taken a leaf out of Snapchat's book and launched 'Instagram Stories' -- a new feature designed to make it easy for users to share "all the moments of your day, not just the ones you want to keep on your profile".
Photos and videos shared using Stories remain visible for a 24-hour period, don't appear on your actual profile, and the reactions and conversations they initiate stay private. You can jazz up your posts with text and drawing tools and, when you share multiple photos and/or videos, they appear in a slideshow format.
In short, it's exactly like Snapchat Stories, and Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom is totally fine with it.
"They [Snapchat] deserve all the credit," Systrom told Josh Constine of 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.
"Facebook invented feed, LinkedIn took on feed, Twitter took on feed, Instagram took on feed, and they all feel very different now and they serve very different purposes. But no one looks down at someone for adopting something that is so obviously great for presenting a certain type of information."
The 'certain type of information' Systrom is likely referring to here is the type of stuff not typically shared on Instagram, which, with its photo-based format and introduction of flattering filters, tends to be used as a vehicle for prettier images, rather than the warts-and-all approach from Snapchat.
But as outlined in Instagram's recent blog post, Stories aims to capture those not-so-pretty moments and encourage users to share your highlights and everything in between, too."
While many are cool with Instagram (and therefore, Facebook) ripping off Snapchat's stories feature, not everyone is as forgiving.
Instagram Stories will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks on iOS and Android. To learn more, check out the Help Center.