There may be a new contender in town for viral video sharing as reports on Facebook's new Lasso app began surfacing on Nov. 9. Details about what can be accomplished with this 15-second video sharing platform are still emerging, but its wide range of visual and musical add-on effects is intended to be a new viral way to share. From a music standpoint, there's no doubt songs will play a role in this story, though the jury is still out on how this can be used to share new music, whether by fans or artists.
In-app editing and compositing tools are meant to spice things up quickly. Facebook promises that the accompanying music library for short soundtracks is "massive," containing everything "from pop hits to vintage classics." In addition to Lasso's seamless connection within Facebook and sharing controls for single or multiple profiles, Lasso also suggests trending hashtags.
Commenters on the new Facebook app considered it a youth-oriented competitor to TikTok, but that might be too narrow a perspective. Meant to be fun, fast and versatile, users are just beginning to put Lasso through its paces, discovering what its launch-version can do. Facebook said, "We're excited about the potential here, and we'll be gathering feedback from people and creators," implying that tweaks might be in store as the company monitors the new app's adoption.
Lasso's future will be shaped by early adopters' success stories, since any proof-of-concept online spawns imitators within hours. While it's too early to tell whether its impact will be big or small, it seems a worthy addition to the competition to be tomorrow's pet click-and-share app for fun, short videos — and you can bet music and musicians will be along for the ride
