In November 2015, Facebook launched Instant Articles, a mobile publishing format designed to deliver news content at significantly faster speeds. The move came as platforms like Snapchat were gaining traction with younger audiences through visually-driven, ephemeral content formats.
The introduction of Instant Articles represented Facebook’s direct entry into the news distribution space, partnering initially with nine major publishers. Simultaneously, other platforms were exploring similar strategies. Snapchat, already popular for its disappearing messages, was developing “Discover,” a section featuring professionally produced multimedia stories from publishers like National Geographic, CNN, BuzzFeed, and Vice, as reported in February 2016 by DER SPIEGEL.
At the 2015 FIPP Congress, Jacob Weisberg, chairman of Slate, characterized working with integrated platforms like Snapchat Discover and Facebook Instant Articles as “building your tree house in someone else’s tree.” He acknowledged the potential benefits of the scale and reach these platforms offered, particularly if they provided favorable advertising revenue sharing arrangements. Digital strategy consultant Ralf Kaumanns was, at the time, studying the growth of these integrated platforms and planned to present his findings at the Digital Innovators’ Summit in Berlin in March 2016.
Snapchat’s approach, as highlighted by DER SPIEGEL, centered on the appeal of transience, offering content that felt authentic and immediate. The platform’s “Live Story” feature demonstrated its potential for real-time news coverage, exemplified by its coverage of the December 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino, California, which aggregated user-submitted photos and videos. This prompted observers, including Fortune magazine, to suggest Snapchat was evolving into a “power in the realm of real-time news.”
The rise of these platforms occurred alongside growing concerns about ad blockers, which publishers viewed as a significant challenge. Some publishers, such as Axel Springer and CityAM, responded by blocking users who employed ad blockers from accessing their content. The emergence of Instant Articles, Snapchat Discover, and similar features signaled a broader shift in how news was being delivered and consumed, prompting publishers to reassess their strategies for reaching audiences in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
A poll conducted by Rich Media in 2015 asked users which social media channel they check first each day, with options including Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.
