Video Transcript
Marianne: …appear to be an obsession. Cody’s with our friends from Nerds on Call to explain how it works.
Cody: Rahhhh, that’s how it works Marianne. Ahhhhhh!
Marianne: I feel you need an “Awooga” when you do that.
Ryan: So for us, I always love it when our segments are really age appropriate for you and I. You know, this is totally…this is our thing. So here’s this. So Snapchat’s been around for a couple of weeks, right? So, of course, Facebook has to get…
Cody: Yeah like an hour and a half.
Ryan: Yeah hour and a half or so, and so Facebook’s kind of copying them. And it sounds like, “Oh my gosh, Facebook, why are you stealing from Snapchat?” But here’s the thing, is when you start messing around with this for about 10 minutes, you realize, you’re really old. Because it’s like, look at how… I mean, this is fun! And so, anyway on Snapchat… Here’s the big thing about Snapchat is you create little stories about your day with visuals. So pictures, you post different posts together, you do these cool little filters, these fun little features you can do. And you post it on your Snapchat profile, and then it expires in 24 hours. So if your friends don’t log in within that day, they miss out on whatever cool thing you did.
Well Facebook saw that and said, “Hey that’s a pretty good idea.” For us old folks we go, “What’s the big deal? I want an archive. I want grandma to see what I did all day, so I wanna save all that stuff.” Well here’s the thing, here’s the rub, is Snapchat has more daily viewers…people will log in nine times a day just to look at Snapchat stuff, because they know that it is expiring. There’s this scarcity to it. So Facebook said, “Hey, that’s a great idea,” stole basically the entire idea and took it and put it on there.
Facebook wanted to do this legit, they basically wanted to buy Snapchat for $3 billion back in 2013. And Snapchat said no, and now they’re reported about $34 billion. That’s how much they’re worth now. And that’s pretty exciting for Facebook to take on. And so this is a whole new revenue stream for them. They can…
Cody: Go go Power Rangers!
Ryan: …put ads in there and all kinds of funny stuff. And some of these filters are sponsored filters. Go back up to the Baby Groot one. Some of these are sponsored filters. When you click on it…you see Baby Groot there? Well, that’s clearly a promotion for the new galaxy, “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie that’s coming out. But it’s also just fun, so we’re willing to accept that it’s an advertisement. But it’s still pretty cool because Baby Groot’s right there. [crosstalk] Hey Baby Groot, how ya doing? So that’s basically it, it allows you to stitch things together, expires in 24 hours, and play and look silly. And it’s kinda fun.
Cody: Okay.
Ryan: You digging it?
Cody: I’m kinda liking it.
Ryan: It’s available right now, go to your news feed up in the top left-hand corner on your mobile device. You’ll see a little camera there. Click on the camera, you’ll get into this screen. Or the real secret, the ninja way to get into it is if you’re looking at your news feed, just slide right and you’re instantly in this new camera mode. And you can do fun things like Cody’s doing.
Cody: Ahhhhhh.
Ryan: This is gonna be huge. You’re gonna see this on everybody’s Facebook page in the coming weeks.
Cody: Yeah, I can’t wait for my mom to find it.
Marianne: I was just about to say my mother is so into the Facebook, I’m paranoid.
Cody: Ho-ho-ho, I’m the hipster Santa.
Marianne: You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!
Ryan: Hey if you shake your head a little bit, you’ll see some of the sparkles will fall off.
Cody: Oh really?
Ryan: Yeah do it, there it is.
Marianne: Stop it, it’s the glitter beard.
Ryan: It’s the glitter beard!
Cody: Yeah, when Julia does that, and stuff falls out, that’s just yesterday’s lunch. But when I do it, it’s glitter beard.
Ryan: Oh look, a donut. Nice.
Marianne: Oh my god.
Cody: All right, there you go. Something for you to waste a lot of time on on your Facebook.
Marianne: Oh cute, all right, thanks!
Facebook recently rolled out a new set of SnapChat-like features, including “Stories.” We are here to show everyone why this vanishing daily video feature will get you sucked into back into Facebook. Great!
How is this different from sharing a photo on Facebook?
The idea is a story or conversation told in pictures, the story then “expires” after 24 hours. So if your friends want to be part of the story, they have to interact with you while it’s happening. This means you’ll have to sign into Facebook at least once a day to make sure you’re not missing out.
Also, new photo filters give this feature a Snapchat feel. You can use frames, effects and really have some fun with sharing your silly snaps with your friends.
Why not just use SnapChat?
That’s a good point, but research has shown that people like do-it-all apps. Many older users have never set up a Snapchat account and now don’t need to in order to enjoy the same experience. Facebook wants to users to engage, so this is a smart move for them. If you just log in once in a while, think of all the “stories” you’ll miss! The big loser in this is SnapChat, their newly established place on the stock market took a hit as soon as Facebook released these new features. What will SnapChat do now to re-assure investors in their stocks? When Facebook essentially copied the unique benefits that SnapChat offer, it comes as a huge blow to them, all eyes on them to see how they respond now. It may take more than a few new filters to solve this issue, expect ads on the platform to increase – which could push away the primarily young user base who are traditionally quick to drop products and services in favor of the next big thing.
Like This? We have more!
Sign up below to be kept in the loop and be sent more content like this in the future!
About The Author: Andrea Eldridge is CEO and co-founder of Nerds On Call, a computer repair company that specializes in on-site and online service for homes and businesses. Andrea is the writer of a weekly column, Nerd Chick Adventures in The Record Searchlight. She prepares TV segments for and appears regularly on CBS, CW and FOX on shows such as Good Day Sacramento, More Good Day Portland, and CBS 13 News, offering viewers technology and lifestyle tips. See Andrea in action at callnerds.com/andrea/.
