Oh snap: Facebook adds Snapchat-like filters and Stories

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Facebook is going all in on a new suite of features for sharing your goings-on with friends without cluttering your News Feed with images only meant to be seen once.

Specifically, the social network is adding special filters and masks to its camera feature, as well as Stories for sharing single-view images, video, or replies atop your News Feed that disappear after 24 hours.

Facebook is also allowing its users to send Stories to just a select person or group of people with another feature called Direct, should you not want to share pics from your latest bar escapades with just anyone.

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By this point, you've likely drawn a similarity or five between Facebook's newest update and a certain picture-sharing app. However, it comes as no surprise, as past tests have made it apparent that the Big Blue F was planning to emulate Snapchat's ephemeral image-posting style.

While this is first time we've seen these features on Facebook proper, the site's Messenger app has had its own take on 24-hour snippets for a while now. The Facebook-owned service Instagram has also been using a similar feature for nearly a year now.

Facebook's new snap-swapping features will roll out over the course of this week to both iOS and Android users of the app. 

For those who already use Snapchat, not every feature has been copied by Facebook just yet, such as...um...its featured Stories from magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire.

• Our review of Snapchat Spectacles

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