Spamchat: the takeover of Snapchat fakes

Snapchat clones becoming more and more obvious.

There’s no doubt that Snapchat has become one of the most, if not the most, popular social media platforms introduced in recent years.

While some apps, such as Houseparty and Kik, fade slowly into oblivion, Snapchat has stayed near the top of the iOS and Android app stores’ free app lists for years. At the moment, it's sitting comfortably at No. 3 on the charts.

With an estimated $20 billion valuation as the result of a recent public offering, Snapchat has become one of the fastest growing social media companies in history and has left others struggling to get in on their lucrative business. In fact, even tech giant Facebook failed to purchase Snapchat in 2013 for $3 billion.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has tried to take out its competition through buyouts. Most famously, it bought out both Whatsapp and Instagram. In doing so, it consolidated the most popular social media platforms under one roof, except for Snapchat.

In March, Facebook leaders decided to take matters into their own hands and create the “My Day” function, which essentially mirrors Snapchat Stories. Users are now able post pictures to their Day for their Facebook friends to view and react to.

One would think that Facebook would try to copy Snapchat in only one of its platforms. But they also did almost the same thing with Instagram.

Adding a new feature called Instagram Direct last August, Facebook has been trying to capitalize on Instagram’s focus on images by adding Snapchat-like story and picture message features. Still, the reality is that Snapchat and Instagram are far too different to effectively work together in one app.

While Snapchat has a focus on quick, “improv” selfies, Instagram instead has an emphasis on thoughtful and well-planned photos. Nobody goes on Instagram to send their friends a selfie with a dog filter on their face.

It’s evident that Facebook’s attempts have not been successful. After just one day, there are hardly any more “My Day” posts being made.

Maybe it just isn’t Facebook’s day.