Why social media companies keep copying each other

Snapchat is combining its Stories and Spotlight functions into one vertical video feed. That feed just happens to look almost identical to TikTok.  The new function, called Simple Snapchat, taps into the endless scroll of short-form video that’s flooding the social media industry, from TikTok to Instagram Reels. Snapchat has been burned before: Back in 2016, Instagram launched its own Stories function, which looked quite similar to Snapchat’s longtime offering. Now, it seems Snapchat is picking up on the thread: To make it as a major social media company, everyone needs to copy a little. Is Simple Snapchat a TikTok rip-off?  The video function in Simple Snapchat isn’t new—it merely combines the app’s Stories and Spotlight content into one bottomless feed. What is new, though, is the layout and backing algorithm. In a release, Snapchat called it the “first-ever unified recommendation system that makes for our most personalized experience yet.” That system is built on the impulse of TikTok’s For You Page (FYP); the bubbly engagement buttons even look like it.  [Image: Snap] While Snapchat declined to comment on the similarities, the company has been signaling a move toward a TikTok-ified system throughout its last few filings. “One unified feed of content, but also the ranking stack, which is going to enable us to really share engagement signals between stories and spotlight, which we just haven’t done historically,” CEO Evan Spiegel said in Snap’s Q1 2024 earnings call. “So we think that will really help personalize the experience overall.” Snapchat is also far from the first company to invest in a TikTok equivalent. Instagram launched Reels, its own vertical video feed, in 2020. The platform was immediately flooded with republished TikTok content. Facebook also has a Reels function, and YouTube has its own Shorts.  But Snapchat has been uniquely burned by social media rip-offs, dating back to 2016 when Instagram launched its own version of Stories. In its 2017 IPO filing, Snapchat listed this as an example of intensifying market competition: “Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook, recently introduced a ‘stories’ feature that largely mimics our Stories feature and may be directly competitive.” In the months post-launch of Instagram Stories, Snapchat’s growth slowed 82%. It seems Snap has learned a lesson: Incorporate copycat user functions or lose market share.  Social media companies are stuck in an innovation loop There’s a constant stream of rip-offs and copycats coursing through the industry. That’s because so much of social media is trend-based: First, text was big with the rise of Twitter, then it was photos with Instagram, then long-form video with YouTube, and eventually TikTok’s short-form. Part of being a social media company is capturing these rising currents of user preferences. No one, not even Snapchat, wants to be left behind.  While big tech seems adamant on copying TikTok right now, the Bytedance-owned app is also grabbing at some of the other apps’ successful functions. When BeReal was in its heyday, TikTok debuted its own clone, TikTok Now. A year later, the function was discontinued. It also launched TikTok Live three years after Instagram started its own live function, and continues to add Instagram-equivalent functions like cohosts and Q&As.  The market for small social media apps is bleak. Once-viral, apps such as BeReal, Lapse, and NGL are rapidly losing active users, per Sensor Tower; the marketing intelligence agency estimates that much of that user share is being eaten up by the juggernauts, Instagram and TikTok. Ultimately, social media apps face a kill-or-be-killed market.