Snapchat trolls Facebook with a Russian bot filter. It's good.
Is there anything less funny than when one ethically questionable tech giant trolls another for lulz?
Most of the time, the answer is a resounding "No." But every once in a while, we're forced to offer a very hesitant yes.
For April Fool's Day this year, Snapchat decided to create a Facebook filter that makes it appear as if a Russian bot has liked your post. I'm confident the teens of America could GAF, but for us adults obsessed with the Mueller investigation (and likely not on Snapchat), we have no choice but to love it.
The filter, first discovered by The Verge, places a Facebook UI around your photo with Cyrillic text, and includes likes from such fictional characters as "your mom" and "a bot."
The war between Snapchat and Facebook is nothing new. Instagram, owned by Facebook, has been accused of stealing Snapchat's key features, including its stories feature and AR filters.
So Snapchat decided to hit Facebook where it's currently hurting the most -- the whole Russian bot problem. Approximately 140 million users may have seen Russian propaganda in their news feeds or on Instagram over the course of the 2016 election.
With the filter and use of the word "mom," Snapchat appears to be making fun of Facebook's older user base. The company had a similar, vaguely funny prank and filter last year. Whomp whomp.
Let's just take this brief, technically very clever moment for what it is and enjoy.
Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.
