Facebook is merging ever closer with Snapchat with the full roll-out of its Facebook Camera, Effects, Stories and Direct tools.
Starting this week on iOS and Android, Facebook's Camera can be accessed by tapping on the camera icon in the top left corner of the Facebook app or by swiping right from News Feed. The camera is launching with effects such as masks and frames as well as interactive filters you can apply to photos and videos.
Elsewhere, Stories is coming to the main Facebook app and its launch follows on from the release of the Day feature on Facebook Messenger. As with Snapchat, and more recently Instagram, Facebook Stories lets you share multiple photos and videos as part of a "visual collection" that sits at the top of your News Feed. These posts last for 24 hours before they disappear, and stories won't appear on your Timeline or News Feed unless you post them there, too. In addition to sharing your Story, you will be able to share your photos and videos with certain friends using the Direct option.
Facebook, again like Snapchat, has partnered with brands to create masks for upcoming movies Alien: Covenant, Despicable Me 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Power Rangers, Smurfs: The Lost Village and Wonder Woman. However, unlike Snapchat’s pre-approved set of lenses and filters, Facebook’s Camera Effects are only created by the community. People and Pages will be able to develop and submit frames that, once approved, can be used by other people with photos and videos they want to share on Facebook.
Facebook said it has added the new function because “the way people communicate is changing - photos and videos are being used to share more than ever.” Camera Effects will allow people to “express themselves”, whether that’s at an event or as a location filter.
The Zuckerberg-owned network has experimented with profile filters in the past. After the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, Facebook allowed account users to add a French flag filter to their profile images as a way to show solidarity with the people killed at the Bataclan. Users were also able to add a rainbow filter to their profile pictures after the Orlando shooting at the Pulse nightclub.
Snapchat appears to be the social network that other brands want to borrow elements from, and with around 150 million people using the app every day, it’s no wonder. This year alone, Facebook-owned Instagram launched Snapchat-style Stories that self-destruct after 24 hours, allowing users to create ‘visual diaries’. WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, now lets you draw on pictures taken in the app.
When Instagram launched its Stories feature, WIRED asked both the company's head of product Kevin Weil and the CEO Kevin Systrom about the similarity. Weil noted: “"Facebook was the first to introduce the Feed, now tons of apps have feeds and you don't think anything of it when another app uses a feed – it's the same thing with hashtags. We think the Story is going to become a common format."
Weil’s boss, Instagram’s CEO and co-founder Systrom later told WIRED that many of the new services being launched by tech companies are “remixes”. "All of these ideas are original when you remix them and bring your own flavour,” said Systrom.
Facebook and Instagram “remix” ideas from one another, too. Instagram Stories now lets users create and stream Live videos which disappear as soon as they end. This is similar to Facebook’s Live format, however Facebook’s videos stay on the platform to be watched once the streaming has finished.
Tap on the camera icon on the top left corner of the Facebook app, or swipe right from News Feed to try out the new in-app camera.
You can choose from effects like masks, frames and interactive filters that you can apply to your photos and videos. Reactive effects let you interact with objects — like falling snow — and style effects lets you add Instagram-style filters to videos in real time.
To add any photo or video to your story, tap on the “Your Story” icon in the Stories bar at the top of News Feed. This looks almost identical to Instagram's Stories bar. Any profile picture with a blue ring around it features unseen posts. You can tap on the screen, or swipe, to move to the next post in a Story.
These posts can additionally be saved to your camera roll and shared separately on your Timeline. The Stories, themselves, disappear after 24 hours. If you only want to share stories with a select group of friends, edit the photo or video, add filters or effects then choose the Direct share option. Your friends will be able to view it, replay it or write a reply. Once the conversation on the photo or video ends, the content is no longer visible in Direct.
1. Design your frame
Make a frame in your favourite design tool. Create a PNG with a transparent background for each element.
2. UploadUpload your art to Facebook. Arrange each element on the canvas to compose your frame
3. Preview
Preview how your frame will look in different sizes - either square, portrait or landscape
4. Add details
Add details to your frame, such as leaves for Autumn images
5. Review
Submit your frame for a review, this typically takes up to a week
6. See it
Once your frame has been approved and activated, people can add it to photos and videos they share on Facebook
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
