Facebook just made a key move in its quest to crush Snapchat

Facebook

Like Instagram, Facebook Stories are shown at the top of the Facebook app. You tap each circle to see a friend's story.

After successfully copying Snapchat with Instagram Stories, Facebook is at it again in its big blue app.

The same interface, which Facebook is aptly calling Facebook Stories, is currently being tested in the Facebook mobile app, a company spokesperson told Business Insider on Wednesday.

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While the test is beginning only in Ireland, the spokesperson said Facebook plans to bring the "new format" to more countries in the coming months.

Facebook Stories works identically to Instagram Stories, and by extension Snapchat Stories. You add photos and videos to your personal "story" for your friends to tap through, and everything you choose to share disappears after 24 hours.

Whatever you add to your Facebook Story won't be shown in the News Feed or on your profile's timeline, and like Instagram and Snapchat, you can reply directly to someone's story with a direct message. You can also add selfie filters and Facebook's version of Snapchat geofilters to photos and videos.

Facebook is giving Stories prominent placement at the top of its app, like Instagram. The move is part of a broader strategy on Facebook's part to not only curb Snapchat's growth, but also to get people to share more with their phone cameras - a concept that Snapchat pioneered.

So far, the strategy appears to be working: 150 million people already use Instagram Stories every day, which roughly equals Snapchat's total user base.

Facebook Stories could also prove to be a new way for the company to monetize its 1.8 billion users. It recently started testing full-screen video ads within Instagram Stories with around 30 global advertisers, including Airbnb, Nike, Netflix, and ASOS.