For the first time ever, Facebook this morning asked me to take a short survey. They mentioned it was for a “select group of users” (did you get asked to take it? I’d love to know) and I obliged. The questions in the survey got me wondering: Is Facebook buying Snapchat?
What was in the survey
Facebook first asked whether I knew about a list of apps and brands, including:
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- Apple
- and Microsoft.
Then it asked whether I had used any of them recently.
The next 12 or so questions were all about Snapchat. Hence my curiosity: Is Facebook buying Snapchat.
If Facebook wants to buy Snapchat, this isn’t the first time
In 2013, Facebook offered to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in cash. Personally, I would have said yes, and gone on permanent vacation.
Why did they want to buy the social app?
Teenagers don’t use Facebook, which puts it in a position where its usership will decline over the next few years (that’s my prediction). In fact, I believe Facebook’s active usership is already declining in favour of apps that are more visual and video friendly, including Instagram and, of course, Snapchat.
But the deal didn’t go through.
Maybe Facebook wants to copy Snapchat
Yep, that one is a given. Facebook owns Instagram and recently instated the “Instagram Stories” feature that allow users to create disappearing pictures and videos – a very similar concept to what Snapchat offers.
But over the years, Facebook has also tried to develop new apps to compete with Snapchat. None of them have worked so far.
Did you get the Facebook survey?
I’d love to know if Facebook asked you the same set of questions recently. What do you think of Snapchat? Do you use it? Love it? Hate it?
