Facebook begins to test a feature to kill Snapchat

Facebook is currently testing a feature that appears to be a dagger in the chest of Snapchat.

Reported by Business Insider, Facebook is taking the idea of Instagram Stories and bringing it to its larger and more popular social network. This limited beta opportunity is currently testing on mobile browsers in Ireland, but Facebook will be rolling it out to other countries in the coming months. Placement of the stories will appear on the top of the app, similar to what is currently on Instagram.

Stories on Facebook, just like Instagram and Snapchat Stories, are built upon the addition of video and/or photos. Friends can access the stories, and they will expire after 24 hours. Unlike other news items, Facebook stories do not show up on the News Feed or on the poster’s timeline, and engagement is done through direct message. Like all other services, filters (or Facebook’s own version of Snapchat’s geofilters) can be added to the media.

We’ve reached out to Facebook for comment and will update this article when we hear back.

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About The Author

Tamar Weinberg

Tamar Weinberg is a professional hustler and author of The New Community Rules: Marketing on The Social Web. She blogs about all things tech, productivity, and social media customer success at Techipedia. She can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, among other sites.