Facebook is closing in on 2 billion users but Mark Zuckerberg knows people aren't really using it like they once did - especially the younger generation. That's part of the reason he now owns Instagram and WhatsApp too.
Facebook's latest attempt to create something not very much like Facebook is Lifestage, an iOS app you can install in the US if you're aged 21 or below. Like Facebook was in its early days, it's tied to your school or college.
Video is front and centre, with those 'about me' fields filled out with short Snapchat-style clips rather than boring old text. It's not 2005 any more, gramps.
All the world's a (life) stage
You don't need a Facebook account to sign up, reports TechCrunch, and you need to have 20 other users from your school create an account before it becomes an officially recognised place, letting you view your friends.
The app was designed by coding whizzkid Michael Sayman who was personally invited to intern at Facebook by Zuckerberg himself. He says he wanted to reimagine what Facebook would look like if it launched in 2016.
Facebook has experimented with dozens of ways to stay fresh (remember Slingshot?) and it's big and rich enough to test apps such as Lifestage without necessarily launching them in full. Time will tell if this experiment makes it out into the wider world.
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