In modern times, social media is ruling the world. It has now become really difficult to find a person who is not registered on any of these social platforms, not even kids and teenagers.
There are a number of social media platforms that offer features like the post, live feeds, stories, reels, chatting, etc. Some of these platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Hike, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
Among all these platforms, Instagram and Snapchat are often compared with one another since both are American applications used worldwide. The two platforms may offer some similar features but they have some differences.
Key Takeaways
- Instagram is a social media platform primarily used for sharing photos and videos, with features such as filters, stories, and reels.
- Snapchat is also a photo and video-sharing platform with similar features, but it is known for its disappearing content and augmented reality filters.
- While both platforms have a young user base, Instagram tends to be more popular among adults, while Snapchat is more popular among teenagers.
Instagram vs Snapchat
The difference between Instagram and Snapchat is that Instagram is a social platform for sharing images and videos released in the year 2010, it has features like Image and Video sharing, Live feeds, Stories, hashtags, location tagging, etc whereas Snapchat is an American multimedia messaging application released in 2011, it allows users to share snaps and stories.
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Comparison Table
| Parameter of Comparison | Snapchat | |
|---|---|---|
| Founder and founding year | Instagram was developed jointly by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and was released in the year 2010 in 32 languages. | Snapchat was developed by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown in the year 2011 and was made available in 37 languages across the globe. |
| What is it? | Instagram is an American photo and video sharing social platform now owned by Facebook Inc. | Snapchat is an American multimedia messaging application developed by Snap Inc (formerly Snapchat Inc). The most important or principal feature of it is that the messages and stories are available for recipients only for a short time. |
| Type of content | The types of content shared on Instagram include Images, Videos, Stories, Live Feeds, Conversations, etc that are either filtered or unfiltered. Disappearing messages is the latest feature offered by Instagram. | Snap chat allows a user to send and receive contents as stories, snaps that are either images or short videos, these snaps and stories can be edited with filters, effects, text, drawing, etc. |
| Analytics and advertisements | Instagram offers insights for business accounts and many free analytical tools. It is a powerful platform to advertise on and is also cheaper. | Snapchat offers only a few paid analytical tools. It has a robust ad manager that targets the audience effectively, however, it is an expensive platform to do advertisements. |
| Worldwide users | Instagram has a stronger user base with around 400 million users using it daily and 700 million users using Instagram weekly. Instagram story is one of its most used features with 250 million users every day. | Snapchat has a comparatively weaker user base with approximately 173 million users in a day. |
What is Instagram?
Instagram is an American photo and video sharing platform owned by Facebook. It was developed by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and made its debut in 2010.
It is available in 32 languages for the users.
Instagram was initially launched for iOS but was later developed in the Android version. The app allows a person to share pictures and videos either with filters or without them.
It offers features like story sharing, hashtag, location tagging, live feed, etc. It also allows a person to decide whether his profile is public or not. Based on browsing, it also provides random feeds.
Instagram provides many paid and unpaid analytical tools for business accounts, also it is a powerful advertising platform. Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms with around 400 million daily users and 700 million weekly users.
Instagram is also one of the riskiest social media platforms especially for kids and teenagers.
What is Snapchat?
Snapchat is an American multimedia messaging application originally developed by Snapchat Inc later renamed as Snap Inc. It was developed by Bobby Murphy, Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown and was launched in the year 2011 and is currently available in 37 languages.
Snapchat aims at sharing images and messages that are visible to the recipient only for a short time. It was initially launched for person-to-person image sharing but later features like the story and short video sharing were added.
It offers password-protected space with the name ‘my eyes only’ to save photos.
Snapchat is a powerful tool for business accounts since it targets the audience effectively but provides only a few analytical tools. It is one of the safest social media platforms.
Although it is safe, it has a weaker user base as compared to other platforms. Daily users of Snapchat are around 173 million.
Main Differences Between Instagram and Snapchat
- Instagram and Snapchat are American social media platforms.
- Instagram is majorly an image and video sharing platform while Snapchat is a story and snap sharing platform.
- Instagram was developed in 2010 by Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom, on the other hand, Snapchat was developed in 2012 by Bobby Murphy, Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown.
- Instagram is owned by Facebook Inc and Snapchat is owned by Snap Inc.
- Instagram is available in 32 languages of the world while Snapchat is available in 37 languages.
- Features of Instagram include photo and video sharing, stories, live feeds, filters, location tagging, person tagging, disappearing messages, etc while features of Snapchat include stories and snap sharing, filters, short video sharing, etc.
- Instagram offers free and paid insights for business accounts whereas Snapchat only offers a few paid insights.
- Instagram and Snapchat both are effective advertisement platforms, however, Instagram advertising is comparatively cheaper.
- Instagram is a more widely used application with a strong user base of 400 million daily users while Snapchat lags far behind with only 173 daily users.
- When it comes to security and privacy, Instagram is riskier than Snapchat since a post remains forever or as long as you want on Instagram whereas it remains only for 24 hours on Snapchat.
- http://149.169.27.83/instagram-icwsm.pdf
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216303041
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Sandeep Bhandari holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Computers from Thapar University (2006). He has 20 years of experience in the technology field. He has a keen interest in various technical fields, including database systems, computer networks, and programming. You can read more about him on his bio page.
