Facebook rivals TikTok with new short-form video app

Facebook is giving TikTok a run for its money with the launch of Lasso, a new app for short-form, entertaining videos ranging from comedy and beauty to fitness. Through Lasso, users can create and share their videos, follow creators and browse videos from other users. The creative tools in Lasso, such as the ability to adjust speed or add music, also provides a fun and unique experience of creating videos.In a statement to Marketing, Facebook's spokesperson said, "Lasso is a new standalone app for short-form, entertaining videos — from comedy to beauty to fitness and more. We're excited about the potential here, and we'll be gathering feedback from people and creators.”Meanwhile, TikTok also focuses on short-form mobile videos, allowing users to express their creativity directly through the mobile phone. According to Fortune, users can cross-post Lasso videos to Facebook Stories and Instagram Stories. Last year, Facebook rolled out the Stories function, which features photos and videos on a user's profile for 24 hours. The function also has filters and visual geolocation tags. The move was assumed by consumers as Facebook's attempt to take on Snapchat.Recently, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he views Stories format to be the future for the company. However, the shift away from a Feed-first format has not been the smoothest for the company.“While WhatsApp Status and Instagram Stories immediately took off with huge successes, Facebook Stories started off slower but it is now growing quickly, and will be in a better position soon,” he explained. Meanwhile, the company also implemented advertisements on Facebook Stories and WhatsApp Status.