It was only a couple of weeks ago that we heard of Facebook's upcoming LOL app. The concept was essentially a meme hub, which would bring together content from popular pages on the social network into an interface that facilitates content consumption. The idea was to regain the attention of teens, who have increasingly been moving on to other platforms for entertainment.
However, it seems that LOL is being killed off before it was ever truly born. A new report from Recode claims that Facebook's 'youth team', tasked with developing products for younger audiences, has dropped plans to develop the meme-dedicated app along with other smaller projects.
Going forward, the team will be focusing more of its efforts on Messenger Kids, an app that launched towards the end of 2017. This kid-friendly version of Facebook's messaging service lets parents exercise some control over what their children are doing, helping them stay safe online. Facebook also doesn't collect user data from children using this app, which adds a degree of privacy and security to the experience.
Other projects will still exist inside the youth team at Facebook, but it seems that the social network didn't see enough potential in its meme-dedicated service. Facebook hasn't been known for being a good source for this kind of content, often being weeks behind the latest trends among the younger audience, so this may be for the better. As for what changes will come to Messenger Kids in the future, only time will tell.
Source: Recode
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