Popular Smart Phone Apps Of 2016 (Photo : Carl Court/ Getty Images)
Facebook has launched Lifestage, a new social media app, in a view to attract school going teens aged from 13 to 21. The standalone app will help uploading pictures and videos depending on users' feelings, likes and dislikes.
The uploaded elements will create users' personal video profiles. According to Statista, an statistics website, only 8 percent of the Facebook users fall under this age group.
20 or more members are required to get registered on behalf of their schools, and after completion of the process, members are allowed viewing each other's profiles. But users exceeding the age barrier are limited to view their own profiles only. Notably mentioning, the app, by no mean, guarantees genuineness of its users.
All posts in the app will go public while leaving no room for imposing restrictions on viewing. The app has been designed by Facebook's 20-year old Product Manager, Michael Sayman and his intention is to connect members of the same school. However, BBC expresses concern over lack of privacy settings quoting Dr Bernie Hogan, an expert from Oxford Internet Institute.
Facebook nourishes the ideology to remain open and connected up to maximum possible extent and the app's privacy settings echo the same, argues Dr. Hogan. This may be a great idea from the social media site's point of view, but people are now reluctant to share things with public, Dr. Hogan continues.
Lifestage profiles and status updates are entirely composed of videos while emphasizing on Emojis. Interested teens, even having no Facebook account to access its services, may find the app in the 'App Stores', reports The Street quoting CNBC's Julia Boorstin, who joined the launching session of the social media giant, held on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Facebook does not intend transforming the app into a money maker and has no plan for inserting ads in the near future. Though Lifestage offers no messaging services, users will be able to display their contact details from other sites like Snapchat and Instagram. iTunes store tags the app with a 2.5 star rating while describing as 'confusing'.
With the app, teens under the banner of their schools may share their visual posts publicly. The social media giant intends to keep the app ads free and has no plan to deviate from this ideology in the near future.
