Facebook pulls the plug on Lasso, its TikTok rival

When it became apparent to Facebook that a portion of its teenage users was leaving the site in 2018 in favor of other platforms like Snapchat based on a Pew Research Center study, the company ramped up efforts to court the youth by launching Lasso. The app debuted in November of that year just as TikTok was also gaining popularity.

Now, however, Lasso is about to bite the dust like Facebook's Hobbi, a Pinterest-like app that shut down a day ago due to lack of traction. CNN reporter Kerry Flynn spotted the app's imminent shutdown through a push notification. According to that alert, Lasso will be discontinued on July 10.

Facebook also provides instructions for downloading your videos from the platform, assuming you've uploaded some to the app. Lasso lets users record themselves while lip-syncing or dancing to the tune of their favorite music. Users can pick soundtracks from its vast library of music as well as add fun effects and filters to their videos. They can also explore content through hashtags and within the Browse page.

Despite its similarity to TikTok's format, the service never rose to the same level of fame as the Chinese app, or even close to it. Since launch, the app has been downloaded only more than 5 million times via the Play Store at the very least.