Instagram Stories Is Already Almost As Popular As Snapchat

Stories get engrossing. That was what Facebook suggested Wednesday in its earnings call. Facebook Inc FB said in the call that its Instagram Stories is outperforming its main flagship Facebook social networking platform, helping it to report forecast-beating earnings for the third quarter.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg stated in the call that Instagram Stories, launched in August, now has more than 100 million daily active users. The improved Explore tab in Instagram, having more videos and stories, also has 100 million daily actives, Zuckerberg added.

The numbers are commendable when compared to privately-held Snapchat's 150 million DAU count for its stories. This is despite Facebook's adoption of the product, when Snapchat's was already a runaway hit.

Though both the products are not identical, Facebook seems to be burning the midnight oil in aping most of Snapchat featured en route to a similar or even overwhelming success.

Emphasizing that videos are now a hit, with people creating and sharing more video, Zuckerberg said FB is increasingly focusing on putting video first across its apps.

The CEO also said Instagram now has more than 500 million monthly actives and more than 300 million daily actives.

Although chief financial officer Sheryl Sandberg refused to give a specific breakdown of the DAU growth in Instagram Stories, she did suggest that the company is excited about the engagement with the product and how it is growing across the board. The company said it has about 0.5 million advertisers on Instagram.

The battle lines are now drawn — keep your eyes glued on the development to find out which company's stories will be a hit.

At last check minutes before Thursday's regular session, Facebook was down 3.92 percent at $122.18.