Facebook may already be a very popular social networking service with over a billion monthly active users, but that isn’t going to stop the company from making new social networking apps. Facebook recently launched Lifestage, a new social networking app designed for youngsters who are 21 and below, allowing them to connect with peers from the same school.
Unlike Facebook where users share news, links, text updates, and such, Lifestage is more focused on videos. There are a bunch of biographical questions (likes, dislikes, best friends, the way you dance, etc.) for users to answer but instead of using text, they will have to record a short video for others to view; the more you answer, the more questions you unlock.
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The app is designed by 19-year old Michael Sayman, a product manager from the company. The aim is to replicate Facebook in its early days when it was restricted to college students. When you sign up for Lifestage, you will need to select your high school. Facebook says that the app will not let you see others unless they have at least 20 users from the same school.
The company says that they cannot confirm that the users are genuinely 21 and below, but they require users to select their school when they sign up and are not allowed to change that in the future; users can also report and block people. Sadly though, what makes Lifestage a little scary for parents is that according to the company, “everything you post of Lifestage is always public and viewable by everyone, inside and outside your school”, and “there is no way to limit the audience of your videos”, so if you wish to use Lifestage, do proceed with caution.
Lifestage is available for download now in the App Store. At the time of writing, it looks like it’s not available in the Malaysian App Store yet, but if you really wish to try it out, all you need is an Apple ID tied to the United States.
(Source: Lifestage via: The Verge, TechCrunch)
