Facebook Messenger launches As Clone To Snapchat Stories
Facebook Messenger launches As Clone To Snapchat Stories
Facebook Messenger launches As Clone To Snapchat Stories
Messenger, which has 1 billion users, is the latest Facebook app to mimic the popular photo-sharing features pioneered by Snapchat.
In February, WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging service used by 1.2 billion people, unveiled Status, which lets people share images, GIFs, and videos as a status update. Status, like Snapchat’s Stories feature, disappears after 24 hours.
In August, Facebook-owned Instagram, which has 600 million users, debuted Stories, a look-alike of Snapchat’s Stories feature. Facebook is testing Stories in its core app, too.
With photos and videos come filters, frames, and masks that make status updates more personal and expressive. And, by making photos and updates disappear after they are sent, Facebook is encouraging people to share more everyday moments rather than just the highlights.
Facebook Messenger launches As Clone To Snapchat Stories
Instagram Stories is a success story for Facebook. More than 150 million people use it daily. It’s so popular, in fact, that Snap cited Instagram as a potential risk factor in its initial public offering filing. While Snap is still adding daily users quickly, the rate of growth slowed in the second half of 2016, around the same time that Instagram rolled out Stories.
The relationship with Snap is complicated. Facebook offered more than $3 billion to buy Snap in 2013. CEO Evan Spiegel rejected the offer, believing his company was worth more. Snap priced its IPO of 200 million shares at $17 each on March 1, raising more than $3 billion for a valuation of just under $24 billion. Snap shares opened at $24 March 2 and closed at $24.48, a 44% increase from the offering price. On Wednesday they had sunk back to $22.81.
