Facebook is working on a standalone camera app that will work like Snapchat, reports The Wall Street Journal, with the goal to reignite the platform’s 1.6 billion users to share their lives. The app, which is currently being developed as a prototype, will have photo, video and live streaming features.
The Journal cites “increasingly passive behavior” for the reason behind Facebook’s experimentation — users are sharing less and less about their day-to-day lives despite checking the platform daily, if not more. In fact, a report by technology news website the Information found that “original broadcast sharing” declined by 21 percent from mid-year 2015 from mid-year 2014. Even more concerning is that this pattern is strongest in users under the age of 30.
This is not the first time Facebook has attempted to build a photo and video app. The company, which owns image-sharing network Instagram, launched an app similar to Snapchat in 2014 called Slingshot. Like its competitor, Slingshot allowed users to swap photos and videos that would disappear in 24 hours.
Earlier this year, Facebook added selfie filters to its arsenal after purchasing an iOS app called Masquerade, or MSQRD. The app’s filters are similar to the ones featured on Snapchat, where effects are placed over faces using facial recognition. MSQRD allows users to record video selfie animations by applying filters in to be applied in real time. Built by Eugene Nevgen, Sergey Gonchar and Eugene Zatepyakin, the Belarus-based app will continue to exist as a standalone app while its technology is integrated into Facebook.
"At Masquerade, we’ve worked hard to make video more fun and engaging by creating filters that enhance and alter your appearance," wrote Masquerade CEO Nevgen in a blog post. "Now, we’re excited to join forces with Facebook and bring the technology to even more people. Within Facebook, we’re going to be able to reach people at a scale like never before."
Whether the app becomes a major game-changer for Facebook is yet to be determined, as it is entirely possible nothing will manifest from this endeavor.
