Oh snap! Facebook adds Snapchat-like filters and Stories

(Image credit: Facebook)

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

Specifically, the social network is adding special filters to its camera feature, augmenting your selfies, video and more with special overlays, such as an ad-sponsored Power Ranger helmet or a stylized masks that shows what you'd look like as a sloth. Because, why not.

The update also adds Stories to Facebook, allowing for images, video or replies to pop up at the top of your News Feed for people to enjoy for 24 hours before it disappears.

Facebook is also allowing users to send Stories to a select person or group via another feature called Direct, should you not want to share pics from your latest bar escapades with everyone you're friends with.

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 planned to emulate Snapchat's ephemeral image-posting style.

While this is the 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 its featured Stories from magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire.