Facebook quietly launched today a new video app that will likely compete with TikTok in a bid to court teens anew. It’s called Lasso, a short-form video app filled with music and fun effects.
A study from the Pew Research Center suggested earlier this year that teens have left Facebook in droves to make the switch to other social media platforms including Snapchat and Instagram. The social networking giant wasn’t losing teens entirely: its very own Instagram recently surpassed Snapchat as the most-used app among American teens based on a survey by Piper Jaffray.
Today, Facebook is ramping up its effort to court the youth by launching a new app called Lasso. It lets you record yourself lip-syncing and/or dancing to the tune of your favorite music like you can do with TikTok, a short-video social platform popular among teens. Lasso has its own vast library of music and you can also add fun effects and filters to your videos. Plus, you can follow other creators and find content using hashtags.
Naturally, you can log in to Lasso using your Facebook or Instagram accounts. T here’s also an option to share your videos directly to your Facebook Story. The app was announced via Twitter today by Bowen Pan, product manager for Lasso at Facebook. It’s now available to download on both Android and iOS devices, though availability is limited only to the U. S. for now.
