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Surprise,Romance Archives surprise. Facebook is copying a Snapchat feature yet again.

After debuting Facebook Stories — its near identical clone of Snapchat Stories — in Ireland earlier this year, the company is rolling out its feature to users more widely.

SEE ALSO: Facebook Stories?! Snapchat's main feature is copied again

Stories live in a horizontal layout above the News Feed, similar to Instagram Stories. The Messenger shortcut has moved to the bottom center of the screen, and its previous location has been taken over by "Direct," more on that below.

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A side-by-side comparison with Snapchat shows a nearly identical layout.

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In addition to Stories, Facebook has a separate section for what it calls "Direct," similar to Snapchat's feed for one-to-one or group messaging.

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Facebook Stories also features Snapchat-style filters with the camera in News Feed, which the company has been testing since August of last year.

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Users can also chat in the replies.

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At this point it seems like Facebook will try just about anything to beat Snapchat. With the new in app camera and the "Direct," Facebook has incorporated every aspect of Snapchat into its main app.

While stories can work well with Instagram, for many people Facebook has now become like a modern phone book—a complete directory of everyone you have ever spoken to. Depending on your demographic, Facebook is a school bulletin board, a graduation update feed, a wedding announcement column, a baby photo hub, or maybe all four.

Compared to Snapchat's intimate, selective group and Instagram's more curated group, Facebook and Messenger lack the intimacy required for a feature that captures the mundane activities of one's daily life. It's hard to imagine stories taking off the same way as they have on other platforms, but Facebook sure can try.

For now, the update seems to be available on the beta apps in the U.S., and in several countries internationally.

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Topics Facebook Snapchat