Instagram has released Instagram Stories this week and below you have the Social@Ogilvy POV on the implications of this for brands.

But what is more fascinating to me is looking at how social media platforms become less and less differentiated by day. And what the impact of this trend could be longer term on the users’ online behaviour.

Why is this happening?

Because – in theory – if a new format/feature works really well for the users on a specific platform, then it will likely work with the users of other platforms as well. Basically: More users = more data = more advertising revenue.

How?

Instagram Stories, I think it’s fair to say, is basically Snapchat Stories. But this is merely the latest of a long string of instances where social platforms are developing similar features. Snapchat got a bit closer to Instagram when they started to allow their users to upload older photos. Twitter has been borrowing from Facebook throughout time as well. And of course, Facebook as well has done just that with the addition of Live Video features shortly after Twitter acquired Periscope. And that’s just to name a few examples.

What could the impact of platforms becoming less and less differentiated be?

> Lack of innovation will drive active users away, forcing an ongoing transition from one emerging platform to another.

For those of us who like to express our individuality through the choices we make, and that includes the social platforms we use, seeing our preferred social platform become more mainstream and aligning to the rest of the top platforms could drive us away, to the next platform that cares more about innovation rather than number of users.

> Social media fatigue, which might fuel private messaging apps even further.

If they all offer the same experience, then updating each platform with the same content could become more and more of a burden. This trend could be a further catalyst for private messaging apps.

> More users, less usage.

People might join all networks, and numbers might look good, but how likely is it that everyone would actually use more than 50% of their networks on a…even weekly basis?

> Increase in audience split: Everyone will choose one network, based on friends clusters.

As most people gravitate around others with similar interests and of similar ages, there will be a natural selection of networks based on where the ‘influencers’ of a specific cluster of friends will go.

While I don’t claim to have an answer to what the impact of this trend could be, it will definitely be interesting to follow how this develops.

First published on Daniela Badalan’s LinkedIn profile.