Facebook’s crush on becoming Snapchat never seems to run out. WhatsApp, which feels more like a Facebook company by the day, just got new camera features that copy the Snapchat habits Facebook has been chasing: draw, write, or drop emoji on photos and videos you share inside WhatsApp.
Stories on Instagram, then Messenger Day, and now WhatsApp may mean Facebook is finally getting the hang of it. The first try, Facebook Poke, shut down in 2014; Slingshot followed as another clone and also died. Until Instagram Stories, none of Facebook’s ephemeral apps really worked.
Putting the feature in WhatsApp could lift how many videos people share there. Fun video apps are everywhere, and WhatsApp’s video tools were not even a real alternative. With more than a billion active WhatsApp users versus Snapchat’s roughly 150 million, the copy could outgrow the original practice.
Some users may also feel that everything that made WhatsApp appealing is being rewritten one piece at a time. After the company started sharing personal data with Facebook, stacking on these features makes the Facebook touch harder to ignore.
From today the Android app also gets front-camera flash for selfies and zoom. iOS should follow soon.
