Just a few days ago, Facebook completed its Snapchat cloning process by adding a new feature to its mobile app that lets users
share ephemeral messages, including videos and images.
Snap is the creator of the Snapchat app, a service popular for
sharing ephemeral messages and stories.
Not exact matches
Shares of the
ephemeral messaging and augmented reality company are expected to hit the public market on Thursday.
The redesign mixes Stories, where Snapchat shows ads but which have seen stagnation in
sharing rates amidst competition from Instagram Stories, into the more popular
messaging inbox, where Snapchat's
ephemeral messaging is more differentiated and entrenched.
Cooley stands to reap at least $ 1.8 m (# 1.5 m) in legal fees and expenses for its work on the initial public offering (IPO) of of Snap, the parent company of photo -
sharing and
ephemeral messaging service Snapchat, according to a securities filing.
For now though, Facebook tells me
ephemeral messaging is not an option in Messenger and it doesn't have anything to
share on future plans here.
The redesign mixes Stories, where Snapchat shows ads but which have seen stagnation in
sharing rates amidst competition from Instagram Stories, into the more popular
messaging inbox, where Snapchat's
ephemeral messaging is more differentiated and entrenched.
This app comes from the Facebook Creative Labs, the team behind a handful of specific - purpose - based apps released last year, including: Groups, an app for communicating and
sharing photos with groups; Slingshot, an
ephemeral messaging service; and Paper, a Flipboard - like reader app.
Snapchat's
ephemeral messaging platform completely re-wrote the rules of
sharing.
Video
sharing was introduced followed Vine's impressive growth, and this latest move was rumored to include temporary,
ephemeral messages similar to Snapchat.
Blink, a new mobile application for
ephemeral messaging, is debuting today on the Apple App Store allowing users to text, plus
share photos, and soon videos, with other friends as well as with groups.
And while it's always been possible to set a status
message in WhatsApp, which is visible when someone views your profile, the new Status tab does not replace that traditional status
message; rather it's a whole additional channel aimed at encouraging users to
share ephemeral and primarily visual content with their friends.
There was Slingshot, an
ephemeral messaging app much in the same style as Snapchat; Riff, which let users collaborate with friends on videos and
share them in the app and on Facebook; and Rooms, a group
messaging service that was like a modern version of the chat rooms and
message boards from the early days of the web.
As the name suggests, Bolt app is especially designed as an
ephemeral messaging app for instantly
sharing photos and videos.
Facebook is rolling out
ephemeral stories and
messaging in its mobile apps today, bringing the popular format for
sharing photos and videos to more than 1.65 billion people a day.