Instagram just straight-up ripped off Snapchat.

And they’re not even pretending that they didn’t.

“They deserve all the credit” – Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom

It’s refreshingly blatant.

The good news is that, for those of us already on the Snap-train, we basically don’t need to learn anything new. You shoot, post, and the platform creates a self-destructing (in T-minus-24-hours) story that plays in chronological order.

Here’s what you need to know & why you should/shouldn’t care:

  1. All of the attention is already on Instagram.
  2. The Snapchat/Instagram Stories format is the best way to tell a story on any social channel, by far.
  3. We can create lots more stuff without messing with our oh-so perfectly styled grids.
  4. Some brands are going to jump all over this.
  5. Others will have meetings about meetings until it’s not cool anymore.
  6. At some point, it won’t be cool anymore.
  7. The uncool-ness will be because the boring brands ruined it.
  8. When something is brand new like this, the attention is hottest, and competition is lowest.

Want to know more? A bunch of people have already done a great job of pulling together how-tos and previews, here’s a few of the best:

TechCrunch – “How to use Instagram Stories”

Wired – Instagram Stories is a brazen ripoff, and that’s totally fine

Instagram Blog Post – Get it straight from the horse’s mouth

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