Facebook’s “teens-only”
application “Lifestage” was made to compete with the Snapchat by giving younger
users a place to connect out of Facebook’s vast social network. This
application is now available for Android users. Earlier Lifestage was only
available on iOS but as it has been launched for Android as well, it is going
to have much bigger user base gradually.
Lifestage is considered one of the
ways Facebook is trying to target user base of Snapchat. Facebook is well-aware
of Snapchat’s camera-first design mechanism which makes it is one the social
application’s main attraction.
In order to engage its users,
Facebook is undertaking similar ways, the company bought photo and video
filtering application MSQRD, then experimented with selfie filters on Facebook
using that technology, along with “camera opening” right on top of the News
Feed.
The company also internally
tested a Snapchat replica named as “Facebook Stories.” And recently, Facebook is
seen testing another Snapchat replica as a standalone application named as
Messenger Day. Moreover, it released a
Snapchat-type feature in Instagram by the name “Stories,” which has become a
hit among users.
Now Facebook has a new weapon in
its app arsenal called Lifestage to compete with Snapchat. However, the latest app
is made limited to the high school folks only. In technical terms, this app is
for 21 and below, but Facebook is expecting for it to get viral spread gradually.
In Lifestage app, users will answer bio
questions through videos, which will then unlock further questions. When a user
will update the profile, he/she will see tiny sunglasses-smile emojis next to his/her
name. If not updated, the smile will turn to a frown
or even the emoji of poop. This is intended to encourage the user to be in regular touch with the app. Also,
with Lifestage, users can swank what they like/dislike by sharing it to their
profile.
Lifestage
was launched this summer but has not been a great success. This is evident from
a recent report which shows that the app ranking has dropped in the Social
Networking category on iTunes. However, as this application is made available
for Android users also, it should improve the ranking of this application but
still age is one factor which will affect the potential of this app among
users.