In the recent past, Facebook has been accused of mimicking Snapchat’s features. Facebook is testing “Quick Updates” feature. The feature allows groups of friends to share posts, photos, and other media privately. The personalized sharing disappears after 24 hours.
The feature is not available to everyone. The first user to notice it was Tiffany Zhong, an analyst at Binary Capital which is a venture capital firm. There are reports that the feature is available to a few other Facebook users.
Quick Updates appears in the mobile app, hidden in the smiley face icon found at the top right corner of the latest version of the app. Tapping on the option allows you to add friends to a group so that you can share stories and media. The stories shared in these groups are not viewed in the News Feeds. Everyone in the group can see the updates. These updates disappear after a 24-hour period.
It is not yet clear whether Facebook intends to make this feature part of the app in the future. Facebook already has an option to create groups, where group members share media and opinions. The standalone apps for groups also allow members to share media privately with Moments.
Facebook has tried to mimic Snapchat in the past, although there has been little success. Snapchat has features with disappearing messages. Facebook tried Slingshot, but the feature was not successful. The Poke feature was also not successful. Will Facebook be able to bring a Snapchat-like experience with this feature?
The testing of the Quick Updates is an indicator that Facebook is trying to bring users more personalized sharing than it already offers. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Facebook users reduced personal sharing by a significant percentage. Facebook has since dedicated a team of experts to fight this problem.
Facebook was not shorts of words when asked to comment about the Quick Updates. According to the big social network, Quick Updates is an old test. The company claims it has no intention of making the feature available to all users. Either way, the test shows that Facebook is concerned about personal sharing.
As mentioned earlier, if the feature is available to you there will be a smiley face icon at the top right corner of the app, regardless of the OS you are using. The app will provide a tutorial on how to use Quick Updates when you tap on the icon. You can share old media, text or add new media.
Unlike Snapchat’s Memories feature, Facebook does not mark old media. A white border surrounds old media in Snapchat Memories. Like Snapchat, the test feature in Facebook allows you to overlay text on media. Next will be a privacy tool that lets you specify friends who can view the Quick Updates. You will see all friends’ activity on your Quick Updates via the Activity Tab.
Facebook is behind on new sharing techniques. Making this feature part of the app will be a huge step towards modern sharing techniques.
