Facebook app spurs spike in Snapchat popularity

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Facebook's new Poke app has apparently been a blessing in disguise for Snapchat.

Facebook Poke has been described by some as a direct rip-off of Snapchat, a mobile app that lets you send pictures and videos to people that self-destruct after a short time. And while you’d think having a behemoth like Facebook come barreling into your territory would be a disaster, for Snapchat it's been the opposite.

Image courtesy of TopsySnapchat popularity has risen since release of Facebook's Poke app.

According to Topsy, a social media and web analytics firm, online mentions of Snapchat have soared since the release of Poke. Snapchat also is booming in the download department -- it’s currently the fourth most popular iPhone app in iTunes, whereas Facebook Poke barely makes the top 100.

In Google Play, Snapchat is the 31st most popular free app. As for the Android version of Poke -- there isn’t one, a factor that very well could boost Snapchat’s popularity with mobile users.

Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel responded to Facebook's release of Poke last week by saying, “Welcome, Facebook. Seriously.” His confidence, it turns out, was right on the mark.

While the two apps are strikingly similar, there are some differences, however.

While both Facebook Poke and Snapchat let you draw over images and make videos shorter than 10 seconds, Poke is location-aware, lets you send 120-character messages, necessitates that you use a Facebook username and only works with Facebook friends. Alternately, Snapchat does not offer a location service, only allows for 33-character photo captions but can message friends on and off of Facebook.

Supposedly coded with help from CEO Mark Zuckerberg , Poke joins a handful of other standalone Facebook apps, including Instagram, Messenger and Camera, although some people have questioned why Facebook can’t innovate on its own and has to resort to either making expensive purchases like its billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, or in the case of Snapchat, overtly copying it.

Regardless, apps like Snapchat and Poke certainly have utility for some people.

While Snapchat and Poke message recipients can take a screenshot to preserve a particular communication, both apps alert a sender when someone does so.

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By: Dilusha On 10:16 PM

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Poke: Facebook Just Cloned Snapchat (Update: Hands-on)

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Facebook has a new Snapchat knockoff app that just hit iTunes (no Android version yet). Facebook Poke—yes, Poke!—wants to be your go-to app for photo and video messsaging, but will anybody want to engage in Snapchat weirdness on Facebook? And does this mean Facebook owns your sexts? Facebook response and hands-on below.

Make no mistake, Facebook poke is a total Snapchat rip off. The only real difference between Poke and Snapchat is that Poke's UI isn't as silly and playful. Using the app, you send messages, photos or videos to individual Facebook friends or to groups of friends. From there, you can decide to let the message last for 1, 3, 5, or 10 seconds before it disappears from the app and all creation.

Or at least the hope is that it'll be gone. There's still the risk that someone will capture a screenshot, or worse, that Facebook will suddenly own your ill-advised compromising photos. According to Facebook's Terms of Service, even intellectual property—like photos—that has been deleted is still Facebook's. We reached out to ask if that applies to the photos on Poke.

And that's what's weird about the app. As a standalone, Snapchat gives you a comforting veil of anonymity—no matter how thin. You can Snapchat with strangers which is something you're never going to do on Facebook. But who knows. Maybe there's another reason to use an application with self-destructing photos.

We'll update you once we've had the chance to play with Poke. [iTunes and Facebook]

Hands On:

If you've used Snapchat, you've used Poke. It is a complete ripoff/clone/Facebookification of the app we've already used, only now you're directly plugged in to your existing Facebook network. So: dickpics to college friends, right?

The interface is very straightforward, and again, completely taken from Snapchat. But it does look nicer, because Facebook makes things that look nice. It's actually substantially easier to use than Snapchat, which is kind of grimy and confusing at times.

Your entire inbox of pokes is laid out neatly with quick icon shortcuts to reply. You'll also be tipped off if someone took a screenshot, the dirty cheaters.

And when crafting your own media poke, you're free to add color or text as you want.

When someone pokes you, the app says "poke" to you in a squeaky voice. I'm not sure if the poke sound is adorable or annoying. Decide for yourself:

So, yes, this is Snapchat. But is it as fun when it's not as creepy and semi-anonymous?

We've reached out to Facebook for comment on where these self-destructing images fall under their ownership terms of service. You don't want your penis stored on Facebook's servers when you intended for it to vanish into the ether after three seconds.

Update 5:03

We heard back from Facebook regarding whether the photos really self-destruct or if Facebook saves and owns them:

All Poke messages are retained for a couple of days after being read, to help facilitate abuse reporting.

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By: Dilusha On 8:27 PM

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