Skip to main content

Facebook is appealing to its Asian users with messaging, emoticons, and stickers

facebook-stickers
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Facebook Home may not be available for iOS devices anytime soon (like we first thought it would), but iPhone and iPad users will get a taste of its most interesting parts, at least. The official announcement included a peak into the huge emoji stickers that will also be made available for the social network’s iOS app. If that feature doesn’t quite appeal to you, that’s OK – they will surely excite Facebook’s Asian users – all 153 million of them who use the social networking site on a daily basis.

Messaging applications like Line and Path have utilized the sticker feature from the get-go, while Facebook is tapping into its popularity only now. Line in particular was even named the highest-grossing social networking app in the world by AppAnnie, and it could very well be thanks to stickers they offer for sale. These apps have experienced incredible popularity in Asia, where market-bigtimers (like WhatsApp) got their start as well. Clearly, social apps are being built differently and experiencing insane growth in this sector, and Facebook is taking notice. 

Recommended Videos

The fact that a large number of users are more than willing to pay for using the feature in other chat applications looks like something Facebook ought to consider to increase their profits, if not for their Asian market specifically. The stickers included in the Facebook iOS app update are currently available for free, but their announcement of the feature alludes to a “sticker store” that could potentially get a monetization stream going for them. 

Facebook is steadily coming up with mobile apps and updates, and some of them have failed miserably. The company’s attempt to join the sticker fad may very well fade in the wind, as it is a market that already has more successful players (and we really don’t know for sure if it’s a trend that can catch on in the U.S. market). Hopefully its inclusion alongside the chat heads function for the Facebook iOS app will enable it to remain in the foreground; this guy can help come up with potential iOS app upgrades that will stick (pun intended) as well. 

Jam Kotenko
When she's not busy watching movies and TV shows or traveling to new places, Jam is probably on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or…
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more