That's a major tipping point. The app landscape is getting fractured. Photography, messaging, social media - all are witnessing the rise of new mobile-focused apps and services that threaten legacy players like Facebook.
Even Instagram appears old-hat now next to Snapchat's disappearing photos and more private peer-to-peer model. And
In a new report from BI Intelligence, we analyze how these new upstart apps are becoming powerful platforms of their own, thanks mainly to their popularity among youthful demographics.
Access The Full Report By Signing Up For A Free Trial Today >>
Take a look at this infographic:
In other words, established Internet companies like Facebook are threatened by teen audiences and their tendency to fragment across platforms, especially decentralized messaging and blogging platforms like Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Tumblr.
Right now, cross-posting softens some of the edges of competition. However, given the spate of conflicts between networks recently, one shouldn't assume cross-posting will always be allowed.
As we argue in our report, we may be witnessing is the unraveling of a unitary, centralized social media landscape, dominated by Facebook, into a set of multipolar nodes. Facebook warded off the Instagram threat by buying the company, but it won't always be possible for the company to neutralize threats with acquisitions.