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Facebook Stories test helps you invite friends to events

It might get people to sign up where they'd otherwise bow out.

It's hard to make events exciting in Facebook. You can plan things down to the smallest detail, but that won't matter if people don't notice your event amid all the puppy videos and heated debates. Facebook may have a simple solution: put events where people are more likely to notice them. It's launching a test that lets you slip events into Stories, turning them into sales pitches of sorts. Share an event as a Story and you can create a flashier presentation with a sticker friends can use to show their interest.

The test has started in the US, Mexico and Brazil. Facebook didn't outline its expansion plans, but it won't be shocking if it spreads to other countries.

In a sense, Facebook is acknowledging both the limitations of its current event system and the realities of modern social networking. It's hard to advertise an event beyond the initial invitation. With Stories, it's easier to offer periodic reminders and sell people on the concept beyond a plain text description. And simply speaking, this is the Stories era. The addition of events makes sense for people who've practically grown up with Instagram and Snapchat, and might spend more time looking at friends' Story clips than browsing their news feeds.