If Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t so obsessed with his avatar wandering around on Web3, perhaps he would have called the parent company Lyrebird, rather than Meta, when it rebranded in 2021.
The Australian native bird is famed for its mimicry – not just of other birds but everything from cameras clicking to chainsaws, babies crying and even a construction site.
The business behind Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook has an impressive tally of copying features from competitors in a bid to sure up its position, from Stories in 2016 in response to the rise of Snapchat, to Reels in 2020 in response to TikTok. Way back in 2015, Timehop, a tech platform that resurfaces memories, woke up to find Facebook had copied their app in every way.
Meta’s most recent “innovation” is paid verified ticks – fresh off the back of Twitter owner Elon Musk introducing the same thing.
During a US Congress antitrust (aka competition) hearings in 2020, Zuckerberg confessed to copying competitors and was asked if Facebook had ever threatened to clone products from rivals when it was trying to acquire them, with the Meta boss hedging his bets in responding “not that I recall”.
So it’s something bordering on corporate flattery when Meta copies your product, so Australian “link-in-bio” startup Linktree is no doubt blushing from the compliment paid to them by Instagram today with the world’s most prolific mimic finally breaking its long-standing rule of one site link only to allow up to five links in your Instagram profile.
“We hope this flexibility can help you more effectively express yourself so your audience can learn more about YOU – your passions, causes you care about, brands you love, businesses you run, or anything else you want to share!” Instagram Creative said announcing the change.
With Facebook revenues plunging and Meta more broadly struggling to grow, it’s all part of the ongoing battle by social media platforms to grab a greater slice of the creator economy in order to clip the ticket on the way through.
For Linktree, the move could be seen as tanks on the lawn, but the 9-year-old Melbourne startup, took to Twitter to enjoy the moment and point out that among the more than 35 million users its product has, Meta is one.
https://twitter.com/Linktree_/status/1648383534359531520
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