Facebook has started to test its Stories feature on the desktop version of the social networking site, an indication that the Menlo Park, California-based company is planning to roll out the tool to desktop users in a final release soon, according to a report from TechCrunch. Unlike the mobile version of Facebook Stories, the desktop variant comes in the form of a module that can be found on the right side of the home page instead of at the top of the page. At the time of this writing, however, it is not immediately clear how many users are seeing the Stories feature on Facebook’s desktop site. It is also not clear in what specific region or regions the pilot test is being conducted, though it is highly likely that a number of users within and outside the United States might have seen the feature.
First launched on Instagram in the summer last year, the Stories feature allows you to share an image or video that highlights your day at the top of Instagram’s new feed for 24 hours, after which the content disappears. The feature has since grown in terms of the number of daily users, with Instagram having announced in April this year that Stories reached more than 200 million users, eclipsing that of its closest rival Snapchat from which Facebook Stories has been basically cloned. Then most recently, Instagram released stats for Stories as part of the first anniversary celebration for the feature, revealing that users aged below 24 are spending at least 32 minutes per day on Instagram Stories while older individuals are using the feature for 24 minutes or more every day.
The stats for Stories prompted Facebook to adopt the solution into its core mobile app after initially testing the feature in Ireland earlier this year. However, Facebook Stories for mobile has not gained as many users as Instagram Stories did. With Facebook’s pilot test for Stories on its desktop site, it now seems like the social media giant is ramping up its efforts to expand Stories to more users in a bid to further grow the user base for its desktop and mobile versions. Facebook is expected to release more details of its plan in the coming months as the pilot test for Stories progresses.