Facebook is slowly turning into a Snapchat clone. After adding features like My Day on Messenger, the social network recently introduced a new update which brings another Snap-like feature. This time it’s a bunch of new camera effects and new ways to share photos and videos on Facebook with friends on iOS and Android.
With the new Facebook Stories, people can now share snapshots from throughout the day, glued together in a digital slideshow atop News Feed. Your friends can view you stories for up 24 hours, before they become digital dust. Don’t worry, these photos and videos won’t appear on your Timeline or in the News Feed unless you post them there.
To access the new feature, tap on the “Your Story” icon in Stories bar located at the top of News Feed. Currently, Facebook isn’t monetizing stories just yet, so you won’t be seeing ads squeezed between stories, although looking in the direction of Instagram we don’t believe it will last long.
In case you want to share your story with a specific friend(s) for a limited time, Facebook is now offering Direct the button. When users send a photo or video via Direct, friends will be able to view it once and reply with a message. Once the conversation ends, the image or video will be deleted.
On top of that, in social network is adding reactive and style effects in Facebook camera. These effects allow users to interact with dynamic object in photos and videos, while the style effects will add an artistic vibe to the composition.
Facebook has also partnered up with a number of major film makers to add new masks from Power Rangers, Alien: Covenant, Despicable Me 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Wonder Woman and Smurfs: Lost Village.
The social network is rolling out the update globally for both Android and iOS alike.
