Instagram Stories completes one year; leaves rival Snapchat behind in terms of active users

Instagram Stories, the feature which it ripped off from rival Snapchat, seems to be doing better than the original after a year since its launch. In terms of average time spent on Instagram, it is 32 minutes per day for users below the age of 25. And for those over 25 years, the duration is 24 minutes per day. [caption id=“attachment_3888551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Instagram photo and video replies feature. Instagram[/caption] According to the Instagram blog, half the business accounts have posted an Instagram story in the last month. And one in every five business stories posted gets a Direct Message. By all measures, these are impressive numbers for a feature that just turned one. Instagram Stories has over 250 million active daily users as compared to Snapchat’s 166 million. One of the most popular features, which has been more than inspired from Snapchat, has been the face filters. Puppy ears, Sleep mask and Bunny ears have been the top three popular face filters. When it comes to stickers, the location sticker, digital time sticker and Like stickers were the most popular. [caption id=“attachment_3888503” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Instagram released stickers to celebrate its one year anniversary. Instagram[/caption] “Also today, we are rolling out birthday and celebration stickers in stories to give our community more ways to celebrate any milestone with friends and family,” said the released on the Instagram blog. The popularity of Instagram Stories within a year has hit Snap Inc to some extent. Its share price has fallen to an all time low of $12.67, down from $17, which was the price at the initial public offering. The growth rate for Snapchat has also dropped from 17 percent in Q2 2016 to around 5 percent now. Instagram Direct, the messaging feature within Instagram, has also copied the ephemeral messaging USP that made Snapchat popular. Direct has around 375 million monthly users. Apart from a slow user growth rate, the other bothering aspect for Snapchat has been the lukewarm interest from advertisers. According to a report in CNBC, agencies have said that advertiser interest in Snapchat is flat and dropping in most cases as businesses move to Instagram. According to the agencies, the problem with Snapchat is the inability to measure data, something that Instagram is strong in with its analytics tools for business accounts. Ad agencies complain that it is difficult for brands to advertise with Snapchat as there is no data shared on how many followers a person has. And out of 100,000 views, only about one percent actually see the ad, says Trend Pie’s Ricci. Instagram, say agencies, also lets brands easily integrate their campaigns on other Facebook platforms as well. Instagram Stories is also becoming the preferred destination for influencers who would have earlier used Snapchat, says Ricci.