Facebook building a new app based on memes to lure teenagers

Facebook is now making attempts to capture new users. The tech giant is building an app which would be used to lure teenagers especially in face of challenge from competitors like Snapchat, TikTok, 9GAG among others.

As per a report by TechCrunch, the social networking website is soon going to launch an app, possibly to be named as LOL, that  will focuse on memes.

Facebook has not made any official announcement about the making or the launch of such an app.

Detailing the content of the app, the report adds that the feed of the upcoming app will be divided into several categories such as For You, Animals, Fails, Pranks and more.

By selecting one of these, the content will be pulled from News Feed posts by top meme pages on Facebook. 

LOL is currently in private beta with around 100 high school students who signed non-disclosure agreements with parental consent be part of focus groups and one-on-one testing with Facebook staff, said the report.

The company is yet to decide if LOL would be a stand-alone or be a part of the main Facebook app. 

The news of the app comes soon after reports that Facebook is working on increasing the reach of its Messenger Kids app by introducing Video calling and messaging app for children under 13. The company launched the Messenger Kids app in the US in 2017.

The company has a history of apps that have been launched, but only a few have succeeded.

For instance, the company invested heavily in Instagram and WhatsApp while working on its standalone messaging app, Messenger and these apps have been successful in their respective verticals whereas there are other apps like Lasso, Facebook Inbox, Facebook Lite, Slingshot and many others that failed to attract users.