Facebook getting ready to ape Snapchat with Messenger Day, a visual storytelling feature

Facebook Messenger Day teaser 001

If you live in Poland or Australia, you might have stumbled upon a brand new feature at the top of Facebook’s Messenger app, called Messenger Day. As reported by Mashable on Tuesday, Facebook has begun expanding this new feature across the globe following launch of Instagram Stories last month. Available in the mobile Messenger app for iOS and Android, Messenger Day is about sharing what you’re up to in the form of auto-dissapearing updates, stickers and sketches.

“Messenger Day allows you to link video and photos, while adding stickers or doodling, in a feed that expires in 24 hours,” write Mashable. Stickers are plentiful in Messenger day, categorised into groups like “I’m feeling,” “Who’s Up For?,” and more.

Like Instagram Stories, Messenger Day lets you add some text or drawing to your visual updates. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed the Australian test to Mashable.

Unlike Snapchat, Messenger Day lacks face filters. Likewise, the options to take a photo or draw on a pre-coloured screen are nowhere to be seen either.

Facebook Messenger Day teaser 002

“We know that people come to Messenger to share everyday moments with friends and family. In Poland we are running a small test of new ways for people to share those updates visually,” a Messenger spokesperson told Mashable after the social network begun testing Messenger Day with Polish users earlier this month.

Sharing disappearing visual stories with your Messenger friends and family could be viewed as a direct threat to Snapchat Stories. Facebook recently aped Snapchat Stories with a namesake feature on its Instagram service.

It looks like Facebook may have enrolled a small subset of its users in a Messenger Day beta as I’ve seen reports on Twitter that folks from other countries have seen the feature appear in their Messenger mobile application.

Have you spotted Messenger Day recently?

If so, please share your first impressions down in the comment section.

Screenshots courtesy Long Zheng on Twitter.

Source: Mashable