I'm Going to Snapchat What I Don't Want to Instagram and Post on Facebook
We live in a nutty time, in these 2010's. Phone apps have exploded to the point where you can pretty much find anything you want / need on your smart phone. There is literally an app for everything these days and if you can't find what you're looking for you can be damn sure there's someone somewhere building it.
The app biz can be lucrative, a game changer for creators. If you come up with one good idea for an app and have the means to build it out you can become an overnight millionaire.
I've been thinking a lot about apps lately and their influence and use. Specifically, the Big 3 in regards to pop culture use: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (don't worry, I'm not forgetting you Twitter, Tinder and Uber!).
First off, let's take a closer look at these 3 and see how they barely differ yet are all billion dollar companies.
I wrote awhile back how Facebook was the next Google (original blog entry here). Well, Facebook is still here and dominating. One of the smartest things Zucks has done has been acquiring companies that may have posed a great threat to Facebook; namely Instagram. Facebook was somewhat mocked for dropping a billi on Instragram in April of 2012. Now it looks like a prudent investment. Ask any college student what app they use the most and it's no longer Facebook. It's Instagram. Instagram is essentially the new Facebook (before apparently Paper takes that title). And Facebook owns it. That's how you stay relevant folks. And it's not like Facebook (the site) is struggling (largest earnings ever this quarter). However, it is quickly becoming less cool which, if you believe the Social Network's interpretation of Mark Zuckerberg, is one of his fears. Parents and grandparents use Facebook now. They comment on their younger generation's happenings and these teens and twentysomethings are not amused. So now there's Instagram. Shh. Mom hasn't caught on yet.
So what is it about Instagram? It's essentially a photo sharing app that allows you to add cool filters on your photos so they all look artsy. And why did Instagram become all the rage over, say, Hipstamatic? Who knows? Instagram was just run better. Sort of like how Facebook eventually overtook MySpace and made it irrelevant. Instagram seems to be popular because it's simple. Today, the younger generation is much more focused on themselves and what better way to show off yourself than awesome looking filtered selfies? It also strips things down to the basics. Who needs a newsfeed with a lot of status updates, mostly from people you don't really know why you're "friends" with anyways, when you can just look at photos and make comments? Isn't that really what people utilize Facebook for most of the time anyways? Checking out photos and leaving comments? Pretty much. So Instagram captures and simplifies that which explains why it's arguably the most popular "social" app out there right now.
But then there's the ugly step child of Instagram: Snapchat. There's no denying that Snapchat was the brainchild of early twentysomething college fraternity guys:
(these guys specifically, courtesy of CNET)
There's no way Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel (the two on the right side of the photo) weren't pulling a Beavis and Butt-Head one night, laughing to themselves, saying something along the lines of
"Huh-huh, huh-huh, know what would be cool? Sexting with some girl but having that image only last a finite amount of time. Then it's like, you know, GONE FOREVER."
And hence the idea of Snapchat was likely born. What is mind boggling is that these guys turned down 3 billion dollars from Facebook despite having ZERO revenue. And just like Facebook initially sort of got snickered at for buying Instagram for 1 billion (a move now that looks to be well worth it), Snapchat's team has also received criticism for not taking a 3 billion dollar CASH deal. But here's the thing... they might have made the right choice. Snapchat captures one of the most sought after demographics in tech/social. Teens. And while apps do come and go (staying relevant over a year in this space is considered having longevity) Snapchat has managed to capture the hearts (and, ahem, other body parts) of teenagers for just about 2 years now. Maybe when that 10 billion dollar offer comes Murphy and Spiegel will have the last laugh (or snap?).
What all this demonstrates is that apps aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I downloaded several apps just today that all had to do with food -- from ordering nutritious meals by top chefs that can be delivered to my doorstep with minimal preparation (Munchery), to getting cash back from participating restaurants that I can then use to actually donate to food banks and provide meals to kids that need it (Mogl), to a no-frills foodie review site (Immaculate Infatuation). Those go along with Uber, my preferred rideshare app (which I use all the time now and has resulted in 0 driving under the influence occurrences in the past 2 years), SleepCycle (to monitor my sleeping and wake me up at the optimal time), GoodReads (to get friendly book suggestions), Shazam (to find out just what that song I love is called), OpenTable (to book reservations), VenMo (to pay back friends or get paid by people), and Rdio (to listen to whatever I feel like listening to at any time). Music, food, dating, reservations, movie tickets, ANY tickets, can all be easily accessed on my iPhone. Isn't it a nutty world we live in? If only I had an app to let me take awesome filtered photos of it that would then delete itself from my phone forever so as not to take up precious space........... Oh wait!
My Name is Macster and I Pinned This Message
The app biz can be lucrative, a game changer for creators. If you come up with one good idea for an app and have the means to build it out you can become an overnight millionaire.
I've been thinking a lot about apps lately and their influence and use. Specifically, the Big 3 in regards to pop culture use: Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat (don't worry, I'm not forgetting you Twitter, Tinder and Uber!).
First off, let's take a closer look at these 3 and see how they barely differ yet are all billion dollar companies.
I wrote awhile back how Facebook was the next Google (original blog entry here). Well, Facebook is still here and dominating. One of the smartest things Zucks has done has been acquiring companies that may have posed a great threat to Facebook; namely Instagram. Facebook was somewhat mocked for dropping a billi on Instragram in April of 2012. Now it looks like a prudent investment. Ask any college student what app they use the most and it's no longer Facebook. It's Instagram. Instagram is essentially the new Facebook (before apparently Paper takes that title). And Facebook owns it. That's how you stay relevant folks. And it's not like Facebook (the site) is struggling (largest earnings ever this quarter). However, it is quickly becoming less cool which, if you believe the Social Network's interpretation of Mark Zuckerberg, is one of his fears. Parents and grandparents use Facebook now. They comment on their younger generation's happenings and these teens and twentysomethings are not amused. So now there's Instagram. Shh. Mom hasn't caught on yet.
So what is it about Instagram? It's essentially a photo sharing app that allows you to add cool filters on your photos so they all look artsy. And why did Instagram become all the rage over, say, Hipstamatic? Who knows? Instagram was just run better. Sort of like how Facebook eventually overtook MySpace and made it irrelevant. Instagram seems to be popular because it's simple. Today, the younger generation is much more focused on themselves and what better way to show off yourself than awesome looking filtered selfies? It also strips things down to the basics. Who needs a newsfeed with a lot of status updates, mostly from people you don't really know why you're "friends" with anyways, when you can just look at photos and make comments? Isn't that really what people utilize Facebook for most of the time anyways? Checking out photos and leaving comments? Pretty much. So Instagram captures and simplifies that which explains why it's arguably the most popular "social" app out there right now.
But then there's the ugly step child of Instagram: Snapchat. There's no denying that Snapchat was the brainchild of early twentysomething college fraternity guys:
There's no way Bobby Murphy and Evan Spiegel (the two on the right side of the photo) weren't pulling a Beavis and Butt-Head one night, laughing to themselves, saying something along the lines of
"Huh-huh, huh-huh, know what would be cool? Sexting with some girl but having that image only last a finite amount of time. Then it's like, you know, GONE FOREVER."
And hence the idea of Snapchat was likely born. What is mind boggling is that these guys turned down 3 billion dollars from Facebook despite having ZERO revenue. And just like Facebook initially sort of got snickered at for buying Instagram for 1 billion (a move now that looks to be well worth it), Snapchat's team has also received criticism for not taking a 3 billion dollar CASH deal. But here's the thing... they might have made the right choice. Snapchat captures one of the most sought after demographics in tech/social. Teens. And while apps do come and go (staying relevant over a year in this space is considered having longevity) Snapchat has managed to capture the hearts (and, ahem, other body parts) of teenagers for just about 2 years now. Maybe when that 10 billion dollar offer comes Murphy and Spiegel will have the last laugh (or snap?).
What all this demonstrates is that apps aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I downloaded several apps just today that all had to do with food -- from ordering nutritious meals by top chefs that can be delivered to my doorstep with minimal preparation (Munchery), to getting cash back from participating restaurants that I can then use to actually donate to food banks and provide meals to kids that need it (Mogl), to a no-frills foodie review site (Immaculate Infatuation). Those go along with Uber, my preferred rideshare app (which I use all the time now and has resulted in 0 driving under the influence occurrences in the past 2 years), SleepCycle (to monitor my sleeping and wake me up at the optimal time), GoodReads (to get friendly book suggestions), Shazam (to find out just what that song I love is called), OpenTable (to book reservations), VenMo (to pay back friends or get paid by people), and Rdio (to listen to whatever I feel like listening to at any time). Music, food, dating, reservations, movie tickets, ANY tickets, can all be easily accessed on my iPhone. Isn't it a nutty world we live in? If only I had an app to let me take awesome filtered photos of it that would then delete itself from my phone forever so as not to take up precious space........... Oh wait!
My Name is Macster and I Pinned This Message
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