Slashdot Mirror


Of Course Facebook Is Putting a Snapchat Clone Inside WhatsApp (mashable.com)

Karissa Bell, writing for Mashable: Facebook is about to start pushing its next Snapchat clone on a new set of 1 billion+ users. WhatsApp is now starting to roll out its own version of Stories with an update to its Status feature. Launching now in the Netherlands and France, the feature will eventually be live in all the countries where the messaging app is available. [...] The update, which coincides with the chat app's eighth birthday, makes WhatsApp the last of the major Facebook services to get the Snapchat treatment. (The company started with Instagram last year before adding Snapchat-like features to Messenger and the main Facebook app.) Journalist Casey Newton sums up the situation with this sarcastic tweet, "Honestly whatever you think of Evan Spiegel, it's impressive that he's taking Snap public while serving as Facebook's chief product officer."

8 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. But I can already send cat photos to my girlfriend by Hadlock · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For those of us over 30, what does "snapchat treatment" mean? You can already send photos and video and make phonecalls.

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  2. Re:All three nouns are irrelevant by ctilsie242 · · Score: 2

    Don't forget Meitu which has been insanely popular, and happily sends data overseas.

    FB -- useful, because it is a core gathering point for people.
    Snapchat? Useless.
    WhatsApp? Useless. Photogene4 is far better, and is paid for.

  3. I'm a dinosaur by BLToday · · Score: 2

    My niece (13 yo) called me a dinosaur the other day.
    "You're a dinosaur, you and my mom still have a Facebook account." I don't really know what to say. Do kids view Facebook as something for their parents so it doesn't matter what features are added they're not going to use any Facebook service? I have no clue because I don't "get" the appeal of Snapchat. The interface and functionality seems so disjointed. I was driving her and her friend when some boys in another car rolled down their windows and asked the girls for their Snapchat name. So many I'll buy some Snap stock when they IPO because all the kids are using it.

  4. Re:"I don't have a Facebook account" by Old97 · · Score: 2

    I don't have an internet!

    --
    Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
  5. Re:"I don't have a Facebook account" by mcguirez · · Score: 2

    +1 insightful (oh for Mod points) on " they have shadow accounts on you even if you don't open one yourself"

    --
    When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras
  6. Re:The Internet is Facebook by tripleevenfall · · Score: 2

    Just like the internet was AOL once.

  7. Re:But I can already send cat photos to my girlfri by Threni · · Score: 2

    It means that, like facebook messenger, it'll go from an app which lets you select a contact to start/continue a conversation with, to an app where the contact list is interrupted with irrelevant lists of who's online now (who cares?) and people you might know (huh?), before finally changing and being always one wrong press away from launching the camera and letting you add retarded shit like rainbows and stickers to photos. You'd have to be either a moron or 13 years old to appreciate it. I stopped using facebook messenger when this happened and it looks like i'm going to have to stop using whatsapp soon too. Who knows what to, though. Signal, perhaps, or just email maybe.

  8. Re:Snapchat is super focused. by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Snapchat has one of the better UI's around, really discoverable and quick,"

    Every time I hear this "discoverable" thing I wonder, "Why the fuck should I have to 'discover' what the app does...shouldn't there be like, oh, I dunno, menus and shit that tell me? Why should I have to hunt through the *&%$# thing to figure out how to use it?"

    But then I'm old and cranky, so who cares what I think, eh? I still expect apps and programs to have crazy shit like "menus" and labels" and "buttons" instead of hiding stuff behind hot spots and "magic corners" (I'm looking at you, Windows Fucking 10).

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...