I think the simpler explanation is: a social media monopoly replicated a smaller competitor's best features and let their dominance do the rest.
Let's not pretend it's possible to compete with Facebook on a level playing field.
Let's not pretend it's possible to compete with Facebook on a level playing field.
It's more than just recreating the best feature.
The Snapchat Android app is completely garbage. :|
In a very short amount of time Facebook where able to clone one of Snapchat's signature features AND gain large numbers of new users in the process (as of March 2017 they reported Instagram stories having 200 million users per day, overtaking Snapchat in the process).
It's the market dominance that really did it. Instagram already had the attention, brand, and network.
You just can't beat them at being Facebook.