When social media apps were first introduced, they created a mass impact on their audiences, as no product/service resembled the app in the target market where it was released. These apps with their unique selling points stood out from others, as they provided distinct utility and individual function(s). Even though several social media platforms have sprouted in recent years, they all seem to look and feel similar now, which makes a user often wonder about the purpose behind having each app on his phone.
How Social Media Platforms Filled a Wide Gap in the Market
The social media craze started with Facebook, which became known for its diverse set of features. A user could share pictures with their friends on this platform and communicate with much ease. It later added many other features, which led to its immense popularity around the world as Facebook transcended boundaries.
Next came Twitter, which became noted for its minimalism, then YouTube for its long-form content, and so on. At least, that’s how it once was. However, the lines started to blur with social media platforms looking more or less the same, with similar features and just one or two aspects that would differentiate them from the rest. Although, these may seem like good reasons for the developer to make a user stay on the app is not enough to sustain a large audience.
The Social Media Situation Today
Interestingly, a person is simply unable to function without having one app or the other. For instance, a user may have accounts on both TikTok and Instagram, but would not delete either one of them because each social media platform has its specific style of content, which is aimed at a specific kind of audience. That is why even though a user’s smartphone may be full of all kinds of apps, it is impossible to delete any of them. Which brings one to this realization: are all social media apps starting to look the same? Read on to find out.
The Expectation with Social Media Platforms
The initial expectation with social media platforms was that, for starters, they were not supposed to be many. Nor were they supposed to be all-encompassing, offering everything that was under the sun. There was a reason why each app came with its USP. However, as all things change, evolve, and transform, social media too, did the same. Today users will find that one social media platform is trying to balance several features together. It is regrettable that social media apps no longer have any kind of unique features because when one platform gets a distinctive element, it is copied by the rest.
Take Instagram for instance. It was the only app, which focused on image sharing when it arrived on the social media circuit. However, with time, Instagram evolved and now includes features that resemble features of other social media apps such as the Stories feature, which resembles Snapchat’s USP. Next, it incorporated Reels to contend with TikTok. Yet, audiences are still crazy over Instagram as its number of followers continues to rise.
This brings one to another important question: if Instagram has features that resemble Snapchat and TikTok at best, does that mean that users will start deleting these other apps because Instagram covers them all in some way or the other. Chances are, users won’t be deleting these other apps, just because one app has introduced features that resemble theirs.
Will the Repetition Ever Stop?
So what should a user do as social media apps have started copying the stand-out features of other popular apps? One of the consequences of having similar features in other social media apps is that users are starting to experience a feeling of repetitiveness. Which makes all the social media apps feel the same. Any new social media app comes on the scene and the next thing you know, the major players have copied the distinctive features of that app. This is frustrating because nobody wants to keep the same thing on their phones. The same thing occurs when a new feature is introduced by a major player in the market. The other social media apps instantly copy that feature and integrate it as their own on their respective platforms.
For instance, WhatsApp has been working to introduce a way through which users may not need the internet to use the app anymore. So whether you are a loyal user of the Wave Internet or some other internet service, if this idea goes hit the target audience of the respective app, don’t be surprised if you find other apps that try to do the same. Should app developers try to stop being original because their novel idea won’t stay new for long?
Wrapping Up
Although it may be easy to claim that one app is blatantly copying other apps, the said app is also taking a risk when it tries to incorporate top features from other social media apps. What if the new addition backfires and is not popular with audiences? This happened with Twitter, which introduced the stories feature. The feature did not receive the expected positive response and ended up being removed from the app.
When social media apps add features that are made to keep up with the competition, they end up changing the entire essence of the app. Although social media companies have made audiences believe that the app needs to be a jack-of-all-trades, this is not true. There are some internet-like wave internet providers’ social media sites that are working perfectly. For example, Facebook and Twitter have become the most popular social networking platforms in recent years. These sites allow users to connect with friends and family, share updates and photos, and stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the world.
