After using (somewhat reluctantly) Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram for a few years I’ve had a decent chance to consider each platform’s growth. It’s no secret that competitors borrow ideas from one another, and there’s a strong argument that the ability to copy and possibly improve on an idea that another business developed advances technology and benefits society.
Even Steve Jobs, one of America’s greatest innovators, was known to steal/copy/borrow ideas regularly, and we still see this back-and-forth of idea exchange between Samsung and Apple today. It’s all in the name of progress!
But our class’s recent dive into patent law and some blatant feature copying by Facebook have me asking: how far is too far? I ask this question both as a consumer and from a legal/public policy perspective.
Consider Facebook’s recent decision to add “stories” to the platform. Months before, Instagram (owned by Facebook) did the same thing. Next you’re going to tell me that Microsoft Excel is adding stories!
What began as a highly original innovation from Snapchat has now been shamelessly copied by two of its biggest competitors.
As a consumer, I really don’t want stories on Facebook, and I’m not sure that Instagram needs them either. For me, the differences between platforms are what gives each its own unique usefulness. The extra features on an application, like stories on Facebook and Instagram, are just more clutter.
From a legal perspective, I’m surprised Snapchat wasn’t able to secure patent protection for a feature as distinct as “stories.” Of course, this could be due to my very basic understanding of patent law. Do we want businesses to be able to mimic competitors to this degree?
I understand that this move by Facebook is part of an effort to increase sharing among younger users, who are apparently sharing less content than FB’s older demographic. By the way, your Aunt Debbie just uploaded 500 vacation pics and commented on your profile picture from 6 years ago.
This Business Insider article provides a great summary of Facebook’s history of copying Snapchat.
Agree on all counts. And I’m not persuaded that some of these innovations are actually beneficial. Take the “Facebook Live” feature, for example. In the past few months, what stories dominated the headlines? The four kids torturing another kid on Facebook live, a Thai man who hung his 11-month-old daughter and then killed himself on Facebook live, and Steve Stephens shooting and killing Robert Godwin, Sr. on Facebook Live. Ugh.