Facebook introduces Avatars, its Bitmoji competitor, launching the look-alike stickers feature today in Australia for use in Messenger and News Feed comments
Stickers that look like you — Ditch those generic emoji. Facebook's new Avatars feature lets you customize a virtual lookalike … Tweets: @joshconstine and @joshconstine Tweets: Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Facebook tells me its open to monetizing Avatars through sponsored or purchased clothing, in case virtual you feels insecure unless they're wearing Supreme too https://twitter.com/... Josh Constine / @joshconstine : Facebook Avatars (left) are designed to be more inclusive of diversity, but aren't as cute or sassy as Snapchat's Bitmoji (right) https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Facebook confirmed it was building Avatars back in May 2018, and today ships the feature first in Australia — lookalike stickers usable in Messenger and News Feed comments. The move puts Facebook in direct competition with Snapchat's Bitmoji, which has owned the personalized-sticker space since before Facebook entered.
The Australia-first launch follows the pattern of Facebook testing engagement features abroad before wider rollout, and the company is already signaling an intent to monetize through sponsored or purchasable clothing for the avatars.
First-order effects
- Australian users on Messenger and News Feed comments can now replace generic emoji with customized lookalike stickers, giving Facebook a new daily-engagement surface inside its two biggest sharing venues.
- Snapchat's Bitmoji loses its monopoly on the lookalike-sticker format, now facing a rival embedded in apps with far larger reach.
Second-order effects
- Facebook's stated openness to sponsored or purchasable avatar clothing creates a branded-merchandise channel that pressures Snap to accelerate Bitmoji's own commerce features.
- The format's spread invites copycats across messaging: TikTok later launched its own avatars with voice effects in June 2022, and WhatsApp rolled out customizable avatars in December 2022, confirming the feature became table stakes.
Third-order effects
- If every platform maintains its own avatar system rather than licensing one, personal identity fragments per-app — which is why Meta kept investing, extending avatars to Instagram and Messenger video calls by July 2023 and pushing toward a single cross-app identity layer.
- Avatar-based self-expression shifts from novelty sticker to persistent profile asset, positioning whoever owns the avatar to own future virtual-goods monetization.
The trend: Personalized avatars are becoming a standard identity layer across major messaging and social platforms, with each network building its own system rather than ceding the format to Snap's Bitmoji.