Zuckerberg's Snapchat Envy Isn’t Disappearing
J Thoendell stashed this in Tech
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-14...
First, Facebook tried to clone Snapchat. Then, Facebook tried to buy Snapchat. When that failed, Facebook tried again to copy the success of the photo-messaging app — three more times.
Mark Zuckerberg's Snapchat envy shows no signs of abating. Facebook's various photo-messaging apps and add-ons haven't managed to replicate Snapchat's popularity for any extended period of time, according to data from researcher App Annie. However, the latest attempt, a limited geographic release of an Instagram offshoot called Bolt, so far looks to be the most promising.
Stashed in: Facebook!, Zuck!, Snapchat, Facebook Acquisitions
It's not that Zuck envies Snapchat.
It's that he understands that:
1. The kind of interaction enabled by Snapchat is something that a good number of Facebook users would want to have;
2. That interaction is highly engaging on mobile devices, and mobile engagement is very strategic to Facebook given their monetization; and
3. Snapchat represents an early but fast growing market opportunity.
So it makes a lot of sense that he would try to buy Snapchat and/or create one for Facebook.
His product sense is quite good; he saw the opportunities that Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus represented, and he made them all a part of Facebook, too.
5:36 PM Aug 15 2014