Social platforms have a long history of copying each other, and lately it feels like every app is racing to become identical to its competitors. Of course, major platforms adopted short form feeds as their primary content after TikTok’s explosion, but it hasn’t stopped there. Instagram rolled out in-app maps this year that looks suspiciously similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map for location sharing with friends. YouTube introduced Reddit-style threaded comments, while TikTok announced its new “bulletin board” feature last month that lets creators share content through Instagram-like channels. Even newer entrants like RedNote and Bluesky are essentially built on “copy to replace” strategies. With young users dual-screening and hopping between apps, many platforms’ real goal is not only to be innovative in a brand-new way, but to become the one app Gen Z never wants to leave. But apps being built for one purpose and now doing everything makes the question of why young people are actually using them the hardest to answer. But just because platforms overlap doesn’t...