Facebook is introducing yet another feature that clones Snapchat Stories to its massive global userbase.
Facebook Stories, a feature that puts photos that disappear after 24 hours at the top of the Facebook mobile app, appears to be rolling out to a large number of users across the world. Facebook Stories isn’t available to all users, however. The feature was first tested among users in Ireland in January and its extension this week come hot on the heels of a major Facebook offensive to bake Snapchat’s core features into its main mobile services.
Messenger Day was launched inside the Messenger app last week, targeting the app’s one billion-plus monthly users with a feature that frustrated many by sitting right at the top of the app. Having already introduced similar features in WhatsApp in February and Instagram last year, Facebook is applying its Snapchat cloning to its main mobile app, which accounts for most of the 1.7 billion people who use Facebook on mobile each month.
Facebook had not responded to our request for comment at the time of writing. We’ll update this post with any additional information or response that we’re given.
I wrote last week that Facebook has gone too far with its efforts to throw Snapchat’s core functionality into WhatsApp and Messenger since it doesn’t match with the appeal or usage of either service. Facebook’s core mobile app could be different. People are expecting to see images inside the social network, but the concept of 24-hour disappearing photos may be new to many of those 1.7 billion mobile users who don’t use Snapchat or Instagram Stories.
The focus of Instagram is visual content and a large chunk of the audience is young people so there seems to be overlap with Snapchat and significant growth potential. That said, many people remain unconvinced that Facebook’s Snap-cloning in WhatsApp and Messenger is a positive addition.
TechCrunch.com
