Facebook Launches Bitmoji-Like Avatars
The social network's long-rumored Bitmoji counterparts are available in Australia only, for now, but the US will get them later this year or in 2020.
Facebook unveiled its long-rumored Bitmoji rip-off this week, which allows you to create a customizable caricature and drop it into messenger threads or News Feed comments, according to TechCrunch.
For now, Facebook Avatars are only available in Australia, but they're expected to roll out more widely in late 2019 or 2020.
Inclusivity and diversity are among Facebook's stated goals for its Avatars. You can select a range of body types, skin colors, hairstyles, and outfits to best represent your identity. You can be you.
But there are limitations. You can't alter your Avatar's age or use a selfie to generate a digitized lookalike. Facebook attributes the latter technology's absence to known biases with facial scanning, despite demoing a full-body digitization process in early May.
And, for now, at least, you can't dress your Avatar in branded clothing, though monetization may come down the line.
"It would help personalize it for sure," Facebook Avatar communications manager Jimmy Raimo told TechCrunch. Whether Avatars, like Bitmojis, will allow users to deck their two-dimensional doppelgangers in full-body eggplant suits or cavort around with dancing hotdogs remains to be seen.
And that expressive possibility may end up determining Avatars' success. Bitmojis' youthful energy pairs perfectly with a madness-loving meme culture. To flourish, Facebook needs to double down on weirdness or find another audience altogether.
The announcement, meanwhile, comes as Apple announced new customization options for its Memoji, including makeup, earrings, and piercings.
Any video from Facebook you can always download the application.