Instagram Stories Features That Snapchat Does Better, TBH

Last week, Instagram launched its Stories option, blatantly (and not so secretly) ripping Snapchat's key feature. Some users were pretty miffed that Instagram was shameless enough to copy the rival social platform, others were more thrilled with the news. Of course, now that everyone's been able to test both of them out, many users seem to think that, all things considered, there are still a lot of Instagram Stories features that Snapchat just does better.

That opinion — or its counter opinion — all really depends on the user, their social media loyalties, and preferences when it comes to posting and scrolling. There are just as many people who think Instagram is totally on it when it comes to "stealing" Snapchat's big idea. The whole reason Instagram Stories was such a big hit with some when it launched may have simply been because it was pretty much a clone of Snapchat.: a simple interface that allows your posts to be trashed after a certain time period without them clogging up your phone.

When it comes to creating posts, however, there are some major differences between the too; Snapchat, for one, seems to be a little more flexible. Like adding old photos: Instagram only lets someone create a story with whatever has been in their camera roll for the past 24 hours, according to Mashable. With Snapchat, you can post whatever you want as long as it's stored in Memories.

There's also a better way, for some users, to navigate through stories on Snapchat. With Snapchat, Stories are ranked chronologically, and to navigate among them, you just tap and the next one plays automatically. Instagram shows you Stories in your main feed, organized via an algorithm that tries to guess who you like to interact with most among your followers, which is sort of never ideal.

Aside from other minor differences, like being able to add emoji and edit your story differently, it all really does come down to what you're more accustomed to. There are many tech insiders who claim that Instagram's design is more user friendly. Also, Snapchat's goofy filters are also a draw (though they need to diversify, because if I see one more image of someone in a flower crown my head is going to explode, but that's just me) for some.

And for anyone interested in the inside baseball of social media platforms, there's also the simple fact that Snapchat has a major problem when it comes to drawing in older users and scaling its user base. But that was also one of the main attractions for younger users and people who simply cannot with their extended family from Facebook migrating to Instagram and sneaking into their personal lives. Instagram's move to copy what was attractive about the newer platform and just mixing it into it's already beloved and trafficked platform was a bold move in giving people the best of both worlds and staying relevant. (Or ruining the Instagram experience, depending on how cranky one is when it comes to big changes.)

But change can be good. Maybe this will force both social networks to just get even better and more fun. Everyone should just do whatever their little heart desires because, seriously, it's not worth fighting about.