Facebook is reportedly copying Snapchat's streaks feature that encourage users to continue sharing content with each other every day.
Facebook has been stealing Snapchat’s features for a while now and the latest addition to its repertoire might be Snapchat’s streak feature, a gamified bait that encourages users to send messages to each other every day. Facebook is reportedly bringing that feature over to its Messenger app, as reported by a Twitter user Case Sandberg, who stumbled upon the feature while using Messenger.
Messenger is testing out streak counts… Streak counts really bug me. pic.twitter.com/leDRemkSR3
— case (@CaseSandberg) November 22, 2017
Facebook had earlier copied Snapchat’s Stories feature across all its offerings — Instagram, Messenger, Facebook and WhatsApp. Later, it copied Snapchat’s face filters and camera features on Facebook and Instagram, all in an effort to erode Snapchat's presence in the market as well as bolster its own engagement.
Similar to what Snapchat does, Facebook Messenger streaks shows an emoji status for the person you’re in a streak with. Currently, the feature is perhaps being tested on limited accounts and it’s not currently clear when Facebook will make the feature available across all accounts. Not all of Snapchat’s features have always worked out for Facebook and this could just be a market dipstick.
Snapchat’s streaks have been quite popular amongst its young audience and allowed Snapchat to maintain a steady daily active user count. In fact, it even warns users when their streaks are about to expire. If Facebook is interested in it, one can expect the feature to show up across all its offerings, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook already has a streak feature for posting statuses on Facebook.
Gamification of social media has been an inevitable trend as more and more players entered the market and it became difficult to retain users for long. Only time will tell how enabling streaks will help Facebook retain more users and keep them engaged in its services.
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