Facebook has struggled to keep teenagers on their platform. Parents and family members joining the social media site have led to many privacy-cautious teens leaving the site to find other ways to chat with friends. The social media giant announced a new app that is geared towards people 21 years of age or younger.
The app, called Lifestage, was released on Friday, August 19 on iOS.
Building a profile through the app requires users to take video clips in an effort to create a short biography. The app asks users to record their best friends or their own faces to create their profile.
The app, deemed as strange by some critics, has a 2.5-star rating on iTunes. Users complain that they’re required to give out too much information to use the app. “Very confusing to use” comments one user.
The app is not a part of Facebook. Users will have to enter their school name, and videos uploaded by users are shown to people that attend their local high school and other local schools in their news feed. Facebook friends are not shown any of the videos shown as a result.
Anyone is free to download the new app, but it’s focus on teens and requirement to add school information doesn’t allow users not in high school to view other people’s videos.
Facebook, originally a destination for college and university students, aims to go back to its roots with the app to lure in teens that have abandoned the social media platform for other social media sites.
All posts are public on Lifestage and viewable to everyone.
A lack of security and safety measures is a concern for critics of the app. Users are encouraged to give out their other social media profiles on the app so that they can be reached. Age verification is not required, and anyone can claim they’re from a local high school with no verification required.
