Instagram Introduces New Features That Mimic Twitter and Snap Tools - The New York Times

Surprising only in that this didn't happen sooner

"Now Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is rolling out two more new features. On Monday, the company is unveiling one feature focused on live video and one on ephemeral messaging. Both tap into a type of sharing popularized in recent years by companies like Snap Inc., which runs Snapchat, and Twitter, in its live-streaming video app Periscope.

“We want Instagram to be a place where you can share all of your moments, to create a pressure-free space to do so,” Kevin Weil, head of product at Instagram, said in an interview. Mr. Weil said this philosophy, and the feature choices that stem from it, would encourage people to use Instagram for more than the selected, highly polished feeds for which it is known."

Instagram Introduces New Features That Mimic Twitter and Snap Tools - The New York Times