On Tuesday, Facebook Inc released an app where users can share photos and videos which disappear after a given period of time. Slingshot, Snapchat’s most recent rival, is a photo-based and video-based messaging app, that helps you stay in touch with your friends and family by updating them with pictures from your life.
By signing up with your mobile phone number, you can instantly connect with your friends in your contact list or Facebook list and start sharing disappearing pictures and videos with their friends just like Snapchat.
In this era of the Internet, privacy of data has been at risk. However, Snapchat provides a platform, where in you can freely share your weirdest pictures, without fear, because the receiver will only have access to it for a few seconds.
The new app launched by Facebook is called Slingshot, which doesn’t allow you to view your incoming messages unless you reply to the concerned person with a picture or a video. Now, that’s like forcing people to communicate through images!
The developers of Slingshot believe that they are working on developing an app which will allow people to be creative and free to express their views. It could be something as small as clicking a picture of your lunch, but in a creative way. The app urges you to come up with something creative, whether it’s a selfie or a fine photography.
The slingshot is the second attempt made by Facebook to do something different after the company’s app Poke, which made its debut in 2012 and was removed last month after the app’s failure. The messages of Slingshot are not received to be saved like in any other app. These messages flash only for a few seconds and then disappear.
The difference between Snapchat and Slingshot is that the latter is a bit too rigid, and therefore common people might find the new app annoying. The app is rather frustrating and not really exciting because it demands us to send a picture instead of letting us view it instantly.
The app is designed for entertainment purpose only. It is not advisable to use for emergencies. During such situations, a person can use the messaging apps and phone calls, but Slingshot is purely designed for entertainment and creativity, not for sharing private and urgent details.
Facebook announced that Slingshot was made available in the United States since Tuesday for Android and iPhone users. This is the social networking site’s attempt to battle out with the well established Snapchat that received increased popularity, especially among the teenagers, since its launch.
Facebook’s intention to come outside the social networking site and reach out to its audience has been evident, especially when the company purchased the largest and the most popular messaging app, WhatsApp. The competition for Facebook’s Slingshot, is a powerful and far more experienced and popular Snapchat. However, we hope that Facebook receives its share of success with the new app already in the market.
Article by Vishal
Meet Vishal Gaikar, the tech wizard hailing from Pune, India, who's on a mission to decode the digital universe one blog post at a time. When he's not tinkering with gadgets or diving deep into the digital realm, you can find him concocting the perfect cup of chai or plotting his next adventure. Follow his tech escapades on Twitter and buckle up for a wild ride through the world of innovation and geekery!
