When Twitter used Instagram for some smart social oneupmanship

For a long time, a lot of Instagram pages have been using screenshots of tweets for their content. The pictorial format of Instagram makes it easy for users to read content through screenshots rather than access the caption. And now, Twitter has finally called out Instagram for this.

Twitter used its official Instagram account to post a message about how Instagram users use tweets to rack up likes. The message, seen in the screenshot below, spans six boxes to spell out that Twitter knows and sees what everyone is up to and is going to do the same!

The tweet is real and Twitter’s team did reach out to ask if they could use it. Since then, Twitter has decided to play into Instagram’s game. The account is now posting screenshots of random tweets.

Twitter has responded in an edgy and fun way to its content being used on another platform.

The way the tweets present themselves in screenshots is funnier on Instagram. Often tweets are forever lost in the ever changing timeline on Twitter. These tweets that did well on the platform, perform better on Instagram.

Twitter curating its own feed of good tweets to follow, even if it’s on Instagram, is a smart social play. It allows the company to appear more conversational and cool. By posting such screenshots of tweets on their Instagram account, they are definitely creating a stir amongst fans.

The original six-photo Instagram spread is definitely enjoyable content. As Karthik Srinivasan, Independent communications consultant, puts it, “They (Twitter) are just having some fun, throwing shade at a far bigger, far more popular rival, in a tone and manner they have already cultivated on Twitter. This has some edgy and funny tone.”