Facebook quietly rolls out short-format video app 'Lasso'

Facebook has launched a video app "Lasso" that enables users to make and share short-format videos with filters and special effects.

"Lasso, FB's new short form video app is now available in the US!" Facebook Product Manager Andy Huang said in a tweet on Friday.

Equipped with video-editing tools, the app allows users to add text as well as music to their videos.

The social networking giant chose to roll out the app quietly, without any official announcement.

"Lasso is a new standalone app for short-form, entertaining videos. We're excited about the potential here, and we'll be gathering feedback from people and creators," CNET quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying in an email on Friday.

All profiles and videos on the app would be public.

Lasso has been made available to US users first as Facebook tries to compete with the likes of other similar platforms like Snapchat and YouTube.

By comparison, nearly 69 per cent US teenagers use Snapchat, 72 per cent say they use Instagram and 85 per cent say they use YouTube, the report added.

The app is available on both, iOS and Android where users could log-in using their Facebook or Instagram accounts and share their videos from Lasso to their Facebook Stories.

The content sharing integration of Lasso with Instagram Stories is also expected to come soon.

There has been no word about the global release of the app from Facebook as yet.