Just recently Facebook launched its new app ‘Slingshot’ which is a direct competitor to ‘Snapchat’. We all know why this happened, it seems like Facebook is following a mission that is different from making the world a more connected place to ‘If you can’t buy them, crush them’. Now to me this seems like a very ‘Microsoft’ move. And personally I feel Facebook is trying to be the Microsoft of today’s times. Well this post is about Slingshot so I’ll be giving my views about the same.
1. User Interface:
The user interface is an almost exact replica of Snapchat except for a few changes to the placement of two buttons. Facebook sure has made a little easier to use UI by placing the ‘Flash’ and ‘Selfie’ buttons right next to the ‘Shoot’ button which is used to capture image or videos. When you shoot an image or video, you can do the same things as you can with Snapchat except for the option to save it. Snapchat allows a user to save the images as well which is a feature thats missing in Slingshot.
Then there is the screen wherein you ‘sling’ the image/video to your friends. That is a bit original if you compare with Snapchat however they hijacked the whole idea! 😛
2. Features:
It does everything that Snapchat does(except saving) with Facebook functionality in it! Now there’s no denying the fact that Facebook is the biggest social networking site in the world and Slingshot is only going to strengthen it further. Agreed that Snapchat has also got a considerable number of user base but compared to the Facebook mammoth it is hardly anything. It is almost like what happened during the Internet Bubble with Microsoft and Netscape! In case you people don’t know the Microsoft Vs. Netscape story you can read about it here.Â
In short you can say that Facebook has copied almost every feature of Snapchat and only added Facebook in it. 😛
You can now sling to your Facebook friends and they can see your sling ONLY if they reply to it. It is almost like irritatingly forcing someone to reply to you just to see what you sent them. Again, a very smart move since people WILL reply just to see what they’ve received. They’ve also added one cool feature that you can reply your view in half screen and above your screen will be the original pic. It looks kinda cool, try it.
3. Publicity:
Facebook started publicising about ‘Slingshot’ by apparently leaking the version. Dunno if it was purposely or accidentally leaked but it did create a buzz in the market and a warning to Snapchat before the war was about to begin. With the infinite amount of advertising resources available at Facebook’s disposal it is quite easy for it to create a user base quickly.Â
Now we see what Mark Zuckerberg meant when he said “Move fast, break things!”. He is clearly one of the most competitive entrepreneurs of all times. Regardless of the tactics used to crush his competitors this man has what it takes to stay a Billionaire. He has earned every bit of the success that he is experiencing right now despite what people say about him. The war has begun! It will be amazingly interesting to see what happens next with Snapchat. Facebook has a clear advantage over here because Facebook already has your friends list! It becomes so damn easy for Facebook to crush Snapchat just because of that one factor! However, time will tell what happens next.Â
It would be more awesome to see what changes Snapchat makes in order to survive. But now party’s been taken over by Daddy(Mark). And its time for Snapchat to move fast and break things. But if they fail to do so then…….
Alok Sir kuch sikhao na inhe bhi, hum jaise mazze mein saath saath kaam karke dono aagey badhte hai waise inko bhi thoda gyaan dijiye na!! 😀 🙂
Find me on Facebook @Â www.facebook.com/Nikhil.Malankar
Twitter handle : @nikhilking
Email: nikhil.malankar@gmail.com/nikhil@gameeon.in
Do check out my previous posts:
Hello World! : Story of my life
Memtrix. A. Tough. Memory. Game.
Cricket Knockdown: Yet Another Cricket Game!
