Facebook’s quest either to overtake or to imitate the popular social media app forged ahead recently with a new camera app and filters.
On Friday came the news that Facebook is testing a new camera in its main app that offers Snapchat Lens-style photo and video filters to users. The camera, available to users in Ireland for now, is accessed by swiping right on the homescreen of the Facebook app.
Here’s what Facebook’s “new camera” looks like:
Photos and videos that users create with the camera can be posted on users’ timelines as well as sent privately through Facebook’s new “Direct inbox” feature—similar to Instagram’s message feature.
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The features are part of “Facebook Direct,” which is separate from Facebook Messenger and the main Facebook app.
Facebook told TechCrunch’s Josh Constine that it might “test more variations of these before rolling this out globally,” so although the camera and filters are, for now, available only to users in Ireland, all users should eventually have access.
Offering the features isn’t the only move that Facebook has made to compete with Snapchat as the platform seeks to increase users’ sharing of original content.
The Guardian reported:
… On Saturday it was revealed that Facebook has also launched Snapchat-style filters in Facebook Live as a special Halloween feature. They’re different filters from the ones available in the main test, though, and users can’t simply save them – instead, the goal seems to be to promote more Facebook Live sharing.
Techcrunch also reported that this summer, Facebook tried to buy Snow—a Snapchat-like app from Naver. The app has roughly 80 million downloads and racks up about 10 million more per month.
The attempt ended the same way Facebook’s proposal to buy Snapchat for $3 billion in 2013: with a flat-out “no.”
But not even a big stack of cash and a personal phone call from the Zuck himself was enough to seal a deal. Instead, Naver's leaders believe that it can make Snow a big success without the help of the world's biggest social network. Similarly, Snapchat has seen its value increase dramatically post-Facebook, and is in line to go public next year at a valuation of nearly $25 billion.
Rejected deals haven’t made Facebook back down from the fight for viewers, though. We’ll probably continue to see additional features “inspired” by Snapchat as Facebook seeks to make itself a one-stop social platform.
Constine wrote:
Facebook may not be able to squash Snapchat, but by copying its best features, it could become good enough that more users aren’t tempted to shift to sharing with the competitor.
… Facebook might never be as cool as Snapchat, but it doesn’t have to win back converts, just avoid more loyalists slipping away.
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