Facebook Kills Lifestage, an App No One Really Knew Existed
Considering the growing popularity of social media, tech companies are pressured to make sure that they are able to give unique features to their fans. However, Facebook may have taken it a little too far when Lifestage, its version of Snapchat, was released. Recent reports reveal that the app was not even given a chance to gain popularity as it has been shut down by Facebook. Lifestage was geared toward the teen market and it did not do as well as Snapchat did.
"We originally launched Lifestage to make it easier for teens in the US to connect with others at their school by creating a video profile with content for all of things that make up their identity," a company spokesperson told Business Insider. "Teens continue to make up an important part of the global community on Facebook, and we've learned a lot from Lifestage. We will continue to incorporate these learnings into features in the main Facebook app."
Furthermore, reports indicate that Lifestage actually had a rule that no one over 21 years of age could register. However, considering anyone can fake their birthdays and ages, enforcing the rule was a hopeless mission from the start, and this raised privacy issues. The app has not been updated since last year, which many took as an indication that the app from Michael Sayman was not doing well. It was eventually pulled last Aug. 4 and the news did not make it to headlines until recently.
Lifestage was intended to help high schoolers keep in contact with their classmates and it presented a Snapchat type of interface wherein users could upload selfies and videos for their classmates to see. Unfortunately, Lifestage never actually managed to enter the top charts of the App Store but Facebook might take what they learned and apply it to a new app sometime soon.
