Snapchat-style selfie filters being tested during Olympics may be coming to Facebook

By Daven Mathies August 5, 2016

Facebook tests CameraFeed and MSQRD selfie filter integration

Facebook users in Brazil and Canada will see a new option when they open the app during this month’s Olympics. The social media giant is testing a Snapchat-like selfie camera, complete with face-tracing filters, which automatically turns on above the “What’s on your mind?” field when a user begins a status update from the mobile app.

The new filters, which mimic Snapchat Lenses, will let users show support for their Olympic teams by wearing virtual face paint of a Canadian or Brazilian flag, for example. This is the first implementation of the technology that Facebook acquired when it bought MSQRD, a video effects app, in March. The new feature was made available Friday to all iOS and Android users in Canada, and all iOS users in Brazil. It will remain active through the end of the Olympic games.

The move comes as Facebook is sensing a shift in how people want to interact through social media. “The way that people share has changed a lot,” Facebook Product Manager Sachin Monga told TechCrunch. “Twelve years ago, most of what was shared was text. Now, mobile changed things a little bit, but we didn’t really change our tools. If you look at what people are sharing, now it’s mostly photos, and soon it will be mostly videos.”

This isn’t he first time Facebook has flirted with the idea of implementing Snapchat-like features. The move also comes hot on the heels of Instagram’s new Stories feature, which is nearly a direct copy of a feature by the same name in Snapchat. It lets users share a temporally organized string of photos and videos that will only be visible for 24 hours.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, had also tried to acquire Snapchat in 2013. After that deal fell through, Snapchat went on to see impressive growth. This latest move from Facebook seems to put an interesting twist on an old saying: if you can’t get them to join you, beat them.

Editors' Recommendations

Snapchat may owe you money just for using filters — here’s how to get paid

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…

Social Media

Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Computing

How to make a GIF from a YouTube video

woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Social Media

I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.