Hello and welcome to another episode of Snapchat vs Instagram, where two rival social media apps battle it out by stealing each other’s features. Today, we’ll look at Insta’s testing of a classic Snap element – the screenshot notification.
If you’re unfamiliar with Snapchat, the app will send you a notification if someone takes a screenshot of a snap you send, whether it was sent individually or part of your story. The Facebook-owned Instagram looks to be testing its own version of this feature.
Those who are a part of the test appear to be getting a warning when they open the app.
https://twitter.com/__cajb/status/961481844981157888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2018%2F02%2F11%2Finstagram-is-testing-screenshot-alerts-for-stories%2F
This only applies to stories and not posts, but sussing out your list of story viewers will show a little camera shutter logo next to those who took a screenshot. According to reports, creators won’t cop a notification when the actual screenshot happens, so they’ll have to check the list to find out.
https://twitter.com/readbyher/status/962606574060490752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2F2018%2F02%2F11%2Finstagram-is-testing-screenshot-alerts-for-stories%2F
“We are always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and make it easier to share any moment with the people who matter to you,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Whether the feature will hit all users is uncertain at this stage, but the company is probably trying to figure out whether the change will affect engagement levels. In other words, will folks watch less stories if they can’t anonymously capture them?
Of course, taking screenshots of a private chat will still be visible to the other party, so no changes there.
What will Snapchat do to battle this feature theft? Will Instagram steal again? Tune in next time for another instalment of Snapchat vs Instagram to find out.
