Facebook Testing Ways To Make Stories More Prominent On Its App

Facebook may be deep in controversy with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but the company isn’t stopping from making Stories more prominent on its platform. Facebook is reportedly testing three new ways to make Stories the default mode to share content on its site.

“The way people share and connect is changing; it’s quickly becoming more real-time and visual,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We’re testing new creative tools to bring pictures and videos to life, and introducing easier ways to find and share stories.”

Facebook Stories is a direct copy of Snapchat’s Stories format, which has also become widely popular on Instagram and WhatsApp (called Status). Facebook’s implementation is the least used, as pointed out by The Verge. The company tried to change that by letting users share Instagram Stories directly to Facebook Story and Messenger. That may not even be enough since it looks like the company wants Stories to be somewhat of a replacement to Status updates. This is why Facebook is doing three tests to see how to make Stories fit better on its app.

Facebook’s first test involves showing an open camera window and the most recent images in the user’s camera roll. This will appear right on the status update composer when users are on their mobile devices. The idea behind this is that it could encourage users to immediately start sharing on Stories, rather than posting content on their timeline. This test is currently available to a small subset of users worldwide.

The second test involves the Facebook Camera. When users take an image with the Facebook Camera, the default option is to share it as a Story. Previously, users had to choose whether to share it to Stories, on the News Feed or send it to a friend via Messenger. This test will only be available to users in the Dominican Republic.

The third and last test that Facebook is conducting is a redesign on how Stories are presented above the News Feed. Facebook Stories will be shown as big preview tiles with the small profile pictures of friends who created them. The idea behind this is to tease what’s inside a Story. Showing users a larger preview could tickle their curiosity and could lead them to watch the Stories. This type of format is the same as what Facebook uses in the Facebook Messenger app. The only difference is that Messenger uses smaller circular previews. This new preview feature will be tested with a small percentage of users around the world.

If these tests yielded positive results, Facebook could implement the changes to all users. If that happens, Facebook Stories will become a larger part of the social media platform and the feature could finally find its rightful place on the app.