Facebook has just released their biggest change in a decade called Facebook Stories — and as you may have noticed, it looks very similar to Snapchat and Instagram Stories.

All Facebook users now have access to the new camera feature that allows you to overlay special effects on photos and videos, much like Snapchat. Then lets you share to Facebook Stories which appears above News Feed on mobile and looks and works similarly to Instagram’s 24hr temporary slideshow, Stories. These posts can also be shared to News Feed and individual friends through the new Facebook Direct private visual messages, then will disappear once digested.

Since Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp’s Stories features have been widely well received by their users, Snapchat is said to be under “full attack” by Facebook. With Facebook’s enormous team of engineers and designers, plus billions of profit each quarter, it has the capacity to direct more resources towards Camera, Stories and Direct visual messaging than Snapchat can. As the trend moves towards media based messaging rather than text, it’s imperative for Facebook and all platforms to move toward this change.

While the LA startup Snapchat sees their target market as primarily U.S. teens, Facebook says they are determined to appeal to all ages and international demographics. Since the similarities between Facebook’s new features and those of Snapchat and Instagram are so blatantly similar it’s likely that in the long run, we will remember the companies who evolve with time, not always who the first was.

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