The social media dance continues and, yet again, it’s Facebook copying steps from Snapchat. The social network is now testing a “streaks” feature for Messenger that’s practically identical to the one used by its rival.
Facebook confirmed the feature with Mashable on Wednesday after users posted about it on Twitter. A spokesperson said it’s meant to “see at a glance fun facts about the people you message with.”
“For example, a lightning bolt may appear next to the name of a person you’ve messaged with for at least three days in a row, and a counter will indicate how many consecutive days you’ve been chatting. We’re interested to see if people enjoy this insight, but we don’t have any additional information to share at this time,” they added.
Twitter user @CaseSandberg posted an image of the feature. Here’s how it looks.
Messenger is testing out streak counts… Streak counts really bug me. pic.twitter.com/leDRemkSR3
— case (@CaseSandberg) November 22, 2017
Like snapstreaks, Messenger streaks keeps count of how many consecutive days you’ve messaged someone and rewards you with emoji. If it looks like your streak will soon end, the feature brings up a prompt, urging you to “keep your streak going.” The feature is aimed directly at Snapchat’s core millennial user base, many of whom live by the addicting game that keeps them coming back to the ephemeral messaging app.
Facebook is testing streaks on limited accounts. It’s not clear if it has plans to release the feature to a wider audience, but we wouldn’t be surprised if streaks becomes the latest shameless Snapchat rip-off added to the platform. In fact, we can already see ourselves writing a similar article for an Instagram version in the next few months.
H/T the Verge