Facebook Avatars, which lets users customize a virtual lookalike of themselves for use as stickers in chat and comments, is now available across Europe, the company said today.
The social giant’s Avatars, a clone of Snapchat’s popular Bitmoji, was first unveiled last year and introduced to users in Australia. The feature is aimed at making engagements on Facebook fun, youthful, visually communicative, and “more light-hearted.” Users can create their avatar from the sticker tray in the comment section of a News Feed post or in Messenger.
As my colleague Josh Constine wrote last year, “Avatars aren’t quite as cute or hip to modern slang as Bitmoji. But they could still become a popular way to add some flare to replies without resorting to cookie-cutter emoticons or cliche GIFs.” A number of companies including Xiaomi have replicated Bitmoji in recent years.
A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that Avatars was available in Australia and New Zealand prior to Tuesday’s announcement. The company has not disclosed how users have received the feature.
More to follow…
