Facebook Stealing Snapchat Format And Selling It In Poland

It seems Facebook is now re-appropriating the format used by Snapchat for its “Stories” feature. As part of what it calls “Messenger Day,” the social media giant is offering its users in Poland the ability to post pictures and videos that will disappear in 24 hours. Various filters can also be used when sharing these media files, which then make it remarkably similar to what Snapchat currently offers.

The new offering was first reported by Tech Crunch when a source noticed “Messenger Day” rolling out in Poland. The site promptly reached out to Facebook to ask about it and the social media site responded by saying that it’s basically a test run for the new feature.

“We know that people come to Messenger to share everyday moments with friends and family,” Facebook told Tech Crunch. “In Poland we are running a small test of new ways for people to share those updates visually. We have nothing more to announce at this time.”

As Bustle notes, Snapchat is the go-to social media app for teens and young adults these days. Facebook is still more popular worldwide, but there’s no denying the appeal of the video and photo sharing app that offers a variety of fun filters and plenty of opportunities for general hilarity. This is what the social network really wants to grapple away from Snapchat.

By launching the Snapchat clone in another country where the app is not as popular as it is in the U.S., Facebook could cultivate the same dedication from users as it has been enjoying with its main platform. The social network can also avoid any potential backlash that it might incur from stateside users who are more apt to object to what Facebook is trying to do. What’s more, at more than 1 billion users, the biggest social media entity in the world has a much bigger pool of users to get hooked on the same silly features that make Snapchat so hot among American teens.