Instagram Vertical Story Feed and its Attempt to Compete with Tiktok

Post date: 09-Feb-2021 11:04:34

Instagram has recently been trying to compete with TikTok as a platform for sharing short videos. When it comes to making and sharing short videos no other app has done as well as TikTok and its global reach has been unprecedented. In just a few years it has grown to become one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. Instagram is well-aware of TikTok’s rise in popularity and it has recently been introducing new changes to make itself more popular with its competitor’s userbase. Recently they came up with a feature to restore deleted posts and now Instagram is all set to introduce Vertical Instagram Stories.

The new feature sounds quite similar to the interface of the TikTok app. It seems likely that Instagram is borrowing this idea from TikTok. As of now, users browse Instagram stories through horizontal swipes. This feature was inspired by Snapchat but things are not the same anymore. Even Snapchat has evolved a lot and recently it has also started borrowing ideas from TikTok. The launch of Spotlight is proof that Snapchat recognizes the importance of providing users with an app where they can share short videos. The simple idea has done wonders for TikTok and now social media giants like Snapchat and Instagram want to do the same.

However, even with the understanding of TikTok’s wildly successful strategy and the horizontal story swipe does feel more natural in comparison. The shift to the vertical swipe seems logical from a strategic point of view. Instagram has been trying to compete with TikTok for a while now. But unfortunately, it has not been as successful as it would like to be. Reels is still a work in progress as it lacks several features when compared to TikTok. With the introduction of the vertical story swipe, Instagram will be able to prioritize videos over images and function in the same manner as TikTok. Instagram already has a huge userbase so it has what it takes to challenge TikTok. However, what it has been struggling with lately is the poor implementation of its plans. Everyone is aware that Instagram wants to challenge TikTok but it has been unclear what strategy they are going to use to do that. They have failed to formulate a reliable strategy that they can depend on and it has been the biggest reason that despite having a huge userbase Instagram is still struggling to put TikTok under any kind of pressure.