This could be a clever and clever update for Facebook as it seeks to win back young users and curb the growing momentum of TikTok as the social app of choice for the next generation.
Today, Facebook announced a new ‘Creative App Platform’ for Facebook Stories, which will allow developers to create and promote Stories-related applications directly within the Stories ecosystem.
As you can see here, through the new Facebook platform, application developers participating in the program will be able to include their tools in the Stories writing flow, allowing users to access more creative applications for their Stories, without having to go looking for them. off the shelf.
As Facebook explains:
“We are working to understand how Sharing to Stories could further support the unique needs of our creative app partners. We found that application discovery is a key issue: In a rapidly expanding and competitive marketplace, it is costly and difficult for our partners to reach the people who continue to enjoy their applications. In response, we created the Creative Apps Platform, a new concept that enables people to discover creative apps directly in Facebook Stories.
The concept closely resembles Snapchat’s ‘Minis’ offering, which allows developers to share micro-versions of their entire apps within Snapchat.
That expands the creative potential of Snaps, by providing even more tools and plugin options that you can share, via your Snaps, Stories, and more.
The Facebook variation specifically focuses on Creative Stories and Plugins, as the name suggests, with several developers signing up for the first phase.
“In addition to partners that include the B612 media editor app and the Smule performance music creation app, we are delighted to partner with VivaVideo and Vita, all of which provide unique, rich and robust experiences for story makers. We are also delighted to add new partners to the platform soon; these will include Picsart, one of the best creative platforms in the world, Camera360 and Sweet Selfie «.
The most significant advantage for Facebook here is expanded creativity, one of its key weak points today, with the vast majority of its Stories features, along with tools for Instagram Reels, being replicas of options already available on TikTok and Snapchat. , which leaves him constantly playing catch-up.
Even today, Instagram announced two new features for Instagram Reels, in text-to-speech translation and voice change filters, both of which have been available on TikTok for literally years.
If Facebook, and Meta in general, are really serious about reclaiming younger audiences, it will take more than a few trending tweets and sponsored videos from TikTok influencers – the company will need to commit to finding the next big things, the Next great tools and options that will engage audiences and make Instagram and Facebook the apps people should turn to for the latest trends and features.
Meta should be able to do this. You have far more resources at your disposal than any of your rivals, while also having a much larger cumulative audience, which should be a valuable draw for potential partners. To be sure, many apps will be willing to leverage the reach of Facebook Stories to promote their tools, and if Facebook can stumble upon the next great feature or trending tool as a result, and build it directly into Stories, without much effort on your part. , that could be a huge win for the platform’s youth momentum.
That’s why this new platform probably has more value for Facebook than the Minis for Snap. Snapchat’s audience is much smaller and more demographic-specific, which will likely mean that Facebook’s ‘Creative App Platform’ will attract more interest, and if Facebook seeks to promote these new features to more users, to drive usage of Stories. , the potential of its associated applications is significant.
These are only the early stages, with the platform currently in limited beta, but Facebook has called on potential partners to join, with a view to the next stage.
It might not sound like much right now, but this could end up being a significant upgrade for Meta’s efforts.
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