Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook 14 years ago. ‘Thefacebook’ was only available in Harvard back then, but gained so much fame quickly. Since then, Facebook has been including new features, which improve the users’ experience. One of these features is the Facebook Stories.
Facebook Stories are short user-generated video and photo collections, which could be seen up to 2 times and vanish after 24 hours. It was originated and made popular by Snapchat. Today, Facebook users can share their stories via the main Facebook app.
The feature is dedicated around the in-app camera of Facebook that enables users to overlay fun filters and lenses to their content. They could also include visual geolocation tags to their videos and photos. Accessing the camera is very simple; swipe right on the mobile app.
When Facebook announced it was making a native stories tool in 2016, everybody was somewhat shocked. Particularly because Facebook just launched Instagram Stories several months earlier. In May 2018, Facebook Stories managed to attract more than 150 million daily active users – 40 million shy of 191 million daily active users of Snapchat, according to Techcrunch.
How Facebook Stories Work
Before you can understand how to maximize your Facebook Stories, you must know first the fundamentals. If you are new to it, here’s how you begin making content for Facebook stories:
- Click the “Create a Story” button under “You Page’s Story.”
- Take a picture through clicking on the camera icon once or record a video through pressing and holding the button. You could upload videos and photos too from the camera roll.
- Then, you can add tags, text, stickers, and filters as desired.
- After you are happy with your content, hit the “Next” button at the lower part of the screen. You will have the option to post into your page’s Story and post it to your feed.
Further, you could even adjust your Story Settings to limit the users who see the Stories. You could also modify the settings to control who can reply to your Stories or block replies. It’s also suggested that your cross-post the Stories you are sharing on Instagram. Doing this will help you save time but not creating new content again.
Facebook Stories for Business
- Recording Options
Facebook provides four various recording options: Live, Boomerang, Video, and Normal.
With Normal, you could tap the record button to take a picture. Or you could press and hold the button to capture a video roughly 20 seconds in length. If you choose the Video mode, you could tap the record button once to begin a video and tap again to stop it.
The Boomerang feature works the same on Instagram. Tap the record to stick a burst a images to make a quick animation, which plays backward and forward. Live is the same with Instagram. You will be prompted to begin a live video broadcast, which your followers could tune to.
- Add Various Images to Your Story
A lot of folks are not aware of this feature. After you have added a picture, you could upload more images.
You will find two techniques to upload various images. You could click the “Add” icon on your home screen and upload a story. To upload more, tap the “Your Story” button on the home screen and click the “Add” button.
Oberlo presented on its Facebook stories guide some tips about adding images to your stories.
- Flipping the Images
Facebook Stories not just enable you to improve your photo by including lively and beautiful filters you can save. It also allows you to flip your images with one single tap.
After you have captured the image, click the flip icon at the top right part of your screen.
- Increase Pencil Size When Doodling
Are you a fan of doodling? If so, you could doodle and create one on Facebook Stories. When doing so, you want to decrease or increase your pencil size. This is one of the features that has hidden from most users, as it is not visible.
To do this; after you’re in the writing mode, hold down on any color to adjust the size of the brush.
- Delete Facebook Story
So you have just uploaded a photo to your Story. However, you realize after there’s a problem with the picture. The good thing here is that you don’t need to wait for 24 hours for the story to disappear. You can easily delete it anytime.
To do this, click the “Your Story” icon on your home screen. Hit the 3-dot icon on the top, and then tap “Delete Photo.”
This presents only a few of the many tips you can use. Remember, the way you communicate daily is transforming, and it’s up to a user and your brand to keep up with the evolving trends. Facebook Stories offers users a way to present real-time, customizable content to their followers.
