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An update to Facebook’s iOS and Android app features a new way to personalize your photos: doodling. Facebook now includes this additional tool within its photo-editing software, allowing for an even more unique take on photos posted on the social network.
The update works in a similar fashion to Snapchat, a competing network. Snapchat’s offering currently features tools for both doodling and other decorative means. Facebook, however, is geared towards a more public and stable approach. Snapchat’s photo messages self-destruct in ten seconds or less, making it less than ideal for a user attempting to have a lasting post.
Facebook’s implementation is straightforward and easy to navigate. As with an ordinary post, choose the photo to showcase. Tapping on “Edit” will summon Facebook’s integrated image processing library of tools. If you’ve updated the app, Doodle should now be included as part of this list. With Doodle selected, Facebook arms you with a color palette and differing pen sizes. Choosing your preferred colors and changing your stroke width is handled by sliding a finger on the left or right of the uploaded picture.
Facebook’s push to increase in-app photo editing tools was announced in June. Since then, the social media company has been adding to its roster of filters, stickers, and other overlays. Rival platforms have also been updating their apps with image editing features. Snapchat and other companies invested in image editing, like Twitter, are giving users more creative control over their content than ever before. Facebook offered Snapchat a $3 billion deal in 2013 to acquire the fledgling platform, but Snapchat’s decision to remain independent seems to have motivated Facebook to provide a richer experience for its users.
Whether or not users are choosing to edit their photos past adding a filter, there is certainly no shortage of images posted daily. Facebook recently reached a record of 1 billion users active within a single day, and that audience is responding to Facebook’s feature set by uploading almost 2 billion pictures daily. Despite the emergence of several other social media platforms since Facebook’s launch, the company remains a top choice for users looking to present their chosen moments, cherished or not, for the world to see.