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Week in Social: Instagram Polls, Snapchat growth, and Airbnb documentaries

29 Apr 2019 Cassandra Megraw

Facebook Stories hits 500 million daily users

After living in the shadow of Instagram Stories since its inception, Facebook Stories is gaining big traction, racking up followers, and stepping into the social sunlight by clocking in 500 million daily users. Instagram Stories hit the 500 million daily users mark back in January, so the two platforms are on relatively equal footing for now. The revelation was made by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, on a call with investors this week. With three million advertisers making use of the Stories format across Facebook’s overall app ecosystem, it’s clear that Stories is playing and will continue to play a huge role in Facebook’s financial success and relevance to users of all ages.

Airbnb is making its foray into the streaming biz

We live in a world where video is king and content-creation boundaries no longer exist. Take Airbnb’s latest ventures, for instance: what started as a marketplace for on-demand accommodations (a controversial one at that), then moved into glossy magazine territory, and is now crossing over into video production. Following on from “Home,” its documentary series for Apple that explores noteworthy abodes, Airbnb now has another documentary in the works. “Gay Chorus Deep South” records tour of San Francisco’s Gay Men’s Chorus as it travels through America’s deep south. This content will stream on the Airbnb app as a way to get users excited to visit new locations. And it’s just the beginning.

“We’re very much in the R&D phase here. It’s not just limited to video. It could be audible. It could be physical,” said Airbnb spokesperson Chris Lehane. “The more we put content out there, the more you’re going to bring people to the platform.”

Instagram launches quiz stickers for Stories

Q: Are Instagram users loving quizzing their followers with the newly launched quiz stickers?

What’s Instagram?

If you answered A, you’d be right. (If you answered C… well, dang.) Instagram users now have the ability to ask their fans multiple choice questions to up engagement in a simple and creative way, as well as see how well followers really know them/pay attention. This new addition joins the poll and slider features as an easy way to bring users and their fans together.

Snap Inc announces strong first quarter for Snapchat

Snap Inc.’s first quarter 2019 financial results were announced this week, showing that, despite what many may believe, Snapchat is still very much in the game. Not only did the platform report growth in daily active users and revenue, its Discover partners (publishers with shows housed on the Discover section of the app) are seeing strong returns with a jump of 30% to mobile monthly audiences during the last six months.

Notable numbers: Daily active users increased by 2% to 190 million; and the platform claims to reach 90% of 13 – 24-year-olds and 75% of 13 – 34-year-olds in the U.S.. Considering Snapchat’s investments in its ad platform, and proven ability to retain and grow its user base, it’s proving a sweet choice for advertisers looking to reach a younger audience.