After repeatedly cloning Snapchat, Facebook is ready to look into other ventures. This time around, it's eyeing the popular short-form video service TikTok, and it's promptly come up with its own version called Lasso, now available on both iOS and Android.
Lasso lets users create fun, short videos as they would on TikTok, which recently merged with another video app sensation called Musical.ly. Suffice it to say that Lasso is yet another attempt on Facebook's part to win teenagers over, especially since they're the age group found to be the least engaged with the social network. In 2018, only half of teens say they still use Facebook — a far cry from 2014 when 71 percent of them said they did.
Facebook's New Clone
Whether this attempt yields positive results remain to be seen, but Facebook has pretty much got that ground covered thanks to its many successful stints cloning Snapchat's core features and distributing them all over its services. Not only is its Stories format available on Instagram, users can find it on Facebook, Messenger, and even WhatsApp as well.
Lasso was first reported to be in development in late October. With it, users can record themselves dancing and lip-synching to music, very much like what they can already do on TikTok. Moreover, the app also lets them record very short video clips, similar to Vine videos.
Facebook Bets On Lasso
"Lasso is a new standalone app for short-form, entertaining videos — from comedy to beauty to fitness and more. We're excited about the potential here, and we'll be gathering feedback from people and creators," according to Facebook.
Users can sign in to Lasso via their Instagram or Facebook account. After which, they can scroll through an endless feed of autoplaying videos. There are hashtags displayed prominently on the bottom, and it's possible to filter content with various tags. Lasso videos may also be shared as Facebook stories, and Facebook says users will soon be able to share them on Instagram, as well. As of now, profiles can't be set to private for some unexplained reason.
There's already lots of content on Lasso at the moment, so new users should find themselves entertained for the time being. That's bound to balloon as more users enter the fore, of course. Facebook is bizarrely quiet about launching the app, though. It's made no official announcement so far. No clear reason as to why that is.
Lasso is available now on iOS and Android.
