Facebook Releases Slingshot for Self-Destructing Selfies

When Facebook ended negotiations to buy Snapchat in 2013, that did not mean the company stopped thinking about the disappearing photo messages that have made Snapchat so popular for casual conversations, especially among younger users.

Now Facebook, the world’s largest social network, is rolling out Slingshot, its own service for sending self-destructing selfies to friends.

The new app, which will be available in the Apple and Android mobile app stores in the United States and later in other countries, aims to create a sense of community by encouraging users to send a photo or video to a group of friends. Its unique twist is that the recipients are required to share a visual moment of their own before they can see what was sent to them.