Instagram Encroaches On Snapchat’s Turf Of Social Media Influencers, Winning Their Hearts, Minds And Posts

Harris Markowitz was overjoyed when he was nominated for Shorty Award’s “Snapchatter of the Year” last year. The award show, which honors the best in social media, pitted the 25-year-old against the likes of DJ Khaled, who would later be crowned. Markowitz’s nomination, however, piqued the interest of some major brands like Zillow and Coca-Cola, which soon commissioned him to create content for their brand’s Snapchat accounts. Fifteen months later, Markowitz’s personal Snapchat account is mostly dark, and he isn’t working on any brand accounts anymore. “We saw a decline in viewership on Snapchat and an increase on Instagram,” Markowitz told CNBC recently. The shift mirrors the relentless rise of the Facebook-owned Instagram Stories platform since its launch nearly one year ago, costing Snapchat its popularity with a medium it largely pioneered. “Snapchat should’ve went back to the drawing board and figured out a new way to compete, instead of being romantic to how [it] has been running for the last couple of years,” Markowitz said. Read more at CNBC.