Facebook and Instagram might be making the Snapchat ghost a little too literal.  Although Snapchat is part of most of our daily lives, Facebook and Instagram are stripping Snapchat of its users leading to a large decline in Snapchat’s income.  

Surprisingly, Insta-stories are doing its part in taking users from Snapchat. The main reason is simply because Instagram has a lot more to offer. When you open Snapchat you can send snapchats, chat with people, use face filters, and add to stories. But, when you login to Instagram you can now do all of that and more. When asked why she prefered Instagram over Snapchat, Emma Rogers(9) said, “because it(Instagram) has lots of things. Things Snapchat doesn’t have.”

I know what you are thinking, Instagram completely stole the idea of “stories” from Snapchat, but legally Snapchat can’t do anything about it. Snapchat has a patent, but “stories” aren’t protected by it. Also, copyright laws can’t secure the story concept either. And because Instagram or Facebook didn’t exactly mimic the design or computer codes behind Snapchat Stories, Instagram and Facebook Stories are okay.

Facebook and Instagram’s attempt to copy Snapchat is actually working. They are definitely taking Snap’s users and is costing Snapchat money. At the beginning of 2017, it was expected to lose 2 billion dollars during the year. And to make things worse, Snapchat isn’t expected to gain a profit until 2020, at the earliest.

Facebook hasn’t stopped at just trying to copy Snapchat, it actually tried to buy Snapchat. In 2013, Facebook made a $3 billion offer to purchase Snapchat, but Snapchat said no.

Why are Instagram and Facebook trying so hard to emulate Snapchat? Kevin Systrom, Instagram CEO, told the Wall Street Journal, “we need to have a place where you feel free to post whatever you want without the nagging fear of, did someone like that or not?” Snapchat, unlike other forms of social media, doesn’t have a “like” button or public comments causing the fear of “did I get enough likes on this picture?” to be eliminated.  This feature seems to attract a lot of users, especially teens.

So how far will Facebook and Instagram go to takeover Snapchat? Only time will tell, but the real question is will Instagram and Facebook be the murderers of Snapchat?