Facebook announces a Snapchat clone in Poland

It seems like Facebook is just trying to create its own Snapchat platform, as the company failed to acquire Snapchat. After Quick Updates, and Facebook-owned Instagram ‘Stories’, the company has announced a Snapchat clone for the people in Poland, a country where Snapchat isn’t a household term.

The core concept of Snapchat is that users can share pictures or photos to anyone following the account, with the understanding that they will automatically disappear in 24 hours. Facebook is also providing the same features, giving users the ability to draw or add text to images; it also lets them apply various filters in Messenger.

Reported by TechCrunch, Facebook’s spokesperson said, “We know that people come to Messenger to share everyday moments with friends and family. 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.”

The new feature is almost a complete knock-off of Snapchat. However, Facebook has come up with one new innovation in the form of graphic filter suggestions. You can see a row of tiles that represent individual emotions, locations or holidays at the top of the Messenger thread list which can be selected to go into a more detailed list of filters. Select any one of them and voilà, Messenger will have the picture perfected for you.

The development is definitely interesting, but it seems the feature could be made exclusive to countries where Snapchat isn’t present unless the company sees a booming business.

Considering Snapchat is more popular in certain parts of the world and virtually unknown in others, adding a live casting feature to this application could help Facebook to boost retention and return visits to the app.