Today Facebook accidentally released its latest attempt to rival Snapchat, an app called Slingshot, and then promptly pulled it from the market.
Much like Snapchat, the temporarily released app allows friends to share annotated photos and videos that self-destruct once a message is swiped away. The name Slingshot even sounds like Snapchat.
The difference lies in Slingshot’s capitalization on human curiosity. If you want to access your messages on Slingshot, you have to “sling” content.
Facebook’s concept could prove sticky, but the social network’s previous attempt to directly compete with Snapchat, Poke, failed miserably.
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This is yet another bid for the mobile market, an area Facebook has lagged in. Here’s a look at the briefly released app, via the Verge.
According to the Verge, a Facebook representative confirmed that the app was rolled out accidentally, but that the app will soon be available.
Its unknown when exactly Slingshot will launch, but either way, it’s unlikely this is Facebook’s last attempt to combat Snapchat in the mobile arena.