Facebook’s New Story Feature Shows a Shift Toward Social Media Dominance

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We all know Facebook as an ever-changing social media platform that makes it easier for us to connect with each other. The phrase “ever-changing” isn’t written without a reason, either – the camera in the social media application will now begin to feature a form of visual status, known simply as “stories”.

A story is comprised of a 24-hour video or photo slideshow of current events that are uploaded by the Facebook user, as reported here. The frustrating yet enticing key with a story is that they are, quite literally, only able to be viewed for 24 hours.

Facebook users will be able to take a story with cameras on their smartphones, tablets, laptops, or desktops. Facebook also decided to add several engaging elements to the photo taking experience which add a creative edge to photo-taking. In addition to a vast amount of effects and filters, interactive filters are available. Interactive filters capture your face and alter it in some way. These filters can also toy with objects in the background of a photo or video, and add new images or scenery to your photo or video.

The addition of stories and additional camera options/effects is to try and make Facebook 100% shareable, for all ages. Facebook has, over the course of more than a decade, undergone drastic changes. Will this be the last major change?

The answer is no. A belief surrounding the addition of the story feature to Facebook is that Facebook wants to drive its the social media app, Snapchat, into the ground, as reported here. If this is indeed the case, we should see the continued evolution of the social media platform until Snapchat is truly irrelevant.

Another reason Facebook sought to evolve in such a drastic manner was due to the resounding success of the “story” feature on Snapchat, which proved the preference of image sharing versus message sharing, with most individuals. Facebook is simply capitalizing on a social trend with proven success, and using its massive user base to successfully drive its new feature on the right side of the road.

As far as Snapchat is concerned, however, it might be heading into oncoming traffic; the beginning of 2017 saw a decline in new users for the first time in a while. This decline may be attributed to the large success the “story” feature of Instagram saw when it was first added to the Facebook-owned application.

Is Facebook aiming to dominate the world of social media, and send its competitors down in the dirt? We’ll have to see. For now, it has a new feature at its disposal that allows users to share video and photographic slideshows of their daily lives. They aren’t just photos, however – users will be able to customize them with a true stroke of individuality, due to the multitude of filters and settings available. Facebook wants to become an entity with more freedom, as well as one with more expression.