If you've noticed the circles at the top of your Facebook home page when you're on your phone recently, then welcome to the world of 'Facebook Stories.' The latest feature is Facebook's way of making sure they remain the social media top dog, now competing with Snapchat, who initially created a platform like this. It allows you to take a photo or record a snap shot of your life, roughly 10 seconds worth, and then share it with your friends in many versatile and creative ways, like the filters you see below..
A similar feature was released on Instagram in 2016 and is now extremely successful, but it took awhile to build momentum. When it first rolled out Instagram really had to get celebrities and social influencers to pave the way, and we can probably expect the same thing from Facebook. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen many people jump on the bandwagon yet, while businesses are practically salivating at the chance to do just that. Companies really want that prime real estate at the top of your page. Currently, the feature is only available for personal accounts, but I would also expect that to change eventually. So how do you get started?
First things first, just tap the 'Your Story' icon featuring your fabulous selfie. If you select 'direct' then you will be sending something to just one person, versus your entire network. 'Your Story' will be visible to all of your friends for 24 hours.
A camera will pop up and you take your photo or video just how you would on your regular camera, by pushing the big center button with the arrow in it. For a photo a mere tap works, while for a video you must hold the button for the duration.
The icons across the bottom let you get funky and fun like this! The wand will show you filters (which you see here), while the 'Aa' icon gives you access to text, and the pencil lets you draw. The downwards arrow will save the picture to your phone.
Here's the last step! Who do you want to send this masterpiece to? 'Post' will create it into a post, like any other post on your page. 'Your Story' will put it in the top spot along your page, where it will remain for 24 hours. You also have the option to send it directly again, and chose one of your friends. Shout out to Jim Brown!