{"id":18630,"date":"2020-05-14T02:15:11","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:15:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/facebook-launches-avatars-its-bitmoji-competitor-in-the-us.html"},"modified":"2020-05-14T02:15:11","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:15:11","slug":"facebook-launches-avatars-its-bitmoji-competitor-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/facebook-launches-avatars-its-bitmoji-competitor-in-the-us.html","title":{"rendered":"Facebook launches Avatars, its Bitmoji competitor, in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook\u2019s Avatars feature, which lets you customize a virtual lookalike of yourself for use as stickers in comments and Messenger chats, is today launching in the U.S. Essentially Facebook\u2019s version of Snap\u2019s Bitmoji, Avatars were first introduced<\/a> last year and have been since made available in Australia, New Zealand,\u00a0Europe<\/a> and Canada.<\/p>\n

Based on early feedback, Facebook is also today expanding its range of Avatar customizations to include a variety of new hairstyles, complexions and outfits.<\/p>\n

Avatars may seem a little silly, but they allow for a form of self-expression that extends beyond the capabilities of text and emoji alone. On digital platforms, using an avatar can be a helpful way to indicate the tone of your comment, so you\u2019re not misinterpreted. Plus, many people like having the option of crafting a digital character that actually looks like them \u2014 meaning their candy-colored hair, piercings, glasses, goatees, sense of style or anything else doesn\u2019t come across when using just an emoji alone.<\/p>\n

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Initially, Facebook users will be able set up their Avatar from either the Facebook or Messenger comment composer. From here, you\u2019ll click on the smiley face icon that takes you to stickers. You\u2019ll then see a new option: \u201cMake Your Avatar.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing your Avatar, you can return to edit it at any time from Facebook\u2019s Bookmark section (the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right of the Facebook mobile app.) You\u2019ll need to click on \u201cSee More,\u201d then \u201cAvatars,\u201d in the list that appears.<\/p>\n

Today, the Avatars can be used with Facebook comments and Messenger conversations, and they can be used on your Facebook Gaming profile. But soon, Facebook says Avatars will be able to be used in text posts with backgrounds.<\/p>\n

The company isn\u2019t yet sharing any metrics on the feature\u2019s adoption, but did say Avatars have become particularly popular with the gaming community.<\/p>\n

However, the source of inspiration for the feature, Bitmoji, has seen widespread adoption.<\/p>\n

In January, Snap said 70% of its daily active users,<\/a> or 147 million of its then 210 million, had made themselves a Bitmoji. The company first bought its way into the \u201cdigital persona\u201d business back in 2016 when it picked up Bitmoji\u2019s parent company Bitstrips for $62.5 million. It more recently launched Bitmoji TV, a Snapchat show that puts users\u2019 Bitmoji avatars into animated situations.<\/p>\n

Facebook hasn\u2019t yet detailed any grand ambitions to make its Avatars more of a platform or a monetizable feature. Instead, it seems to be playing a game of catch-up with its rivals.<\/p>\n

Though Snapchat popularized the concept, many companies have since cloned the Bitmoji phenomenon. Apple in 2018 introduced<\/a> a customizable persona called Memoji<\/a> to complement its existing Animoji characters, for use in iMessage and FaceTime. Samsung<\/a> and Google<\/a> also rolled out their own take on Bitmoji in 2018.<\/p>\n

But despite its delayed arrival, Facebook hasn\u2019t broken any new ground \u2014 for example, by introducing Avatars created automatically from your Facebook profile photo or those that move and react as in the popular Gen Z app,<\/a> Facemoji<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facebook says its Avatars feature will roll out to the U.S. starting today. You may not see it yet \u2014 as rollouts can take time \u2014 but should soon.<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/kwS8Bhg4g9g\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook\u2019s Avatars feature, which lets you customize a virtual lookalike of yourself for use as stickers in comments and Messenger chats, is today launching in the U.S. Essentially Facebook\u2019s version <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-18630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t