Facebook Updates and News 2016: 'Lifestage' Allows You to Create a Video Profile of Yourself; How to Download
Facebook has been trying to prove to its dwindling younger audiences that it's still hip and trendy, and its most recent attempt is Lifestage, a standalone iOS app targeted mainly at teenagers.
Described on the App Store as the social network that makes it easy to share a visual profile of yourself with your school, it's simply Snapchat with a twist. It asks for basic biographical details, such as your likes, dislikes, best friends, dance moves, but instead of answering with text, you shoot video clips, which are then recorded into a video profile.
How the app works
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While anyone can download the app, only high schoolers can look at other video profiles, while anyone 22 or older can only see theirs. When 20 people from the same school "unlock" their school network, you can look at your schoolmates' profile so you can get to know them better and connect with those who have similar interests that you do.
You can sign up without a Facebook account and select your high school. Moreover, you can only see other video profiles if 20 people from your school use it, ensuring that you nag your friends to join the app.
Much like the normal Facebook platform, you can see updates from people on your feed. There's also a little gamification as you can get ranked higher if you have more information on your profile. People who update get a sunglasses emoji, while people who don't get a frown or a poop emoji.
Behind the scenes
The app was created by 19-year-old Michael Sayman who created 4Snaps before becoming an intern and later on full-time employee at Facebook. He envisioned bringing 2004 Facebook into 2016, when Facebook only opened to your own profile, not the News Feed. And Lifestage, as we've already established, works the same way.
According to Sayman, he wanted to work on an app that can be related to by people in his demographic. And so he developed Lifestage, which is now available on the App Store, though no word yet on when it will be up for Android users.
Lifestage videos
Not only is Lifestage designed to capture younger audiences, it is also in line with Facebook's goals to become more video-centric. CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has previously discussed the growing centrality of video consumption in the near future, and Lifestage is poised on the same foundation.
But before users get too excited, a word of caution: everything posted on Lifestage is always public and viewable, even by people outside their school networks. There is also no way of confirming that people go to the school they purport to be attending.
While Facebook has had a poor track record for standalone apps, Lifestage has the potential to become a hit, considering videos are all what the younger people are all at, following the increasing popularity of Snapchat and the recently-released Instagram stories.
