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Facebook Takes Stab At Popular Snapchat Feature

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Your newsfeed is changing again. Facebook is adding Snapchat-like features to its app.

In an era where photo and video have become the primary mode of social communication, Facebook is rolling out ephemeral stories and messaging to its mobile apps.

With nearly 2 billion users, this move takes aim at rival Snapchat, which invented the stories format in 2013.

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As on Snapchat, Facebook stories consist of photos and videos that disappear 24 hours after they're posted. You can decorate them with stickers, drawings, text and animated filters.

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(credit: Facebook)

The update has three parts: a redesigned in-app camera, a new feed of ephemeral stories at the top of the newsfeed, and a private messaging feature called "Direct."

The company first introduced the Snapchat-like features with Instagram last summer followed by Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp last month.

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