Selfie Contest – Fastory

The Selfie Contest is a mini-game that invites your participants to take a photo of themselves from their mobile device, then share the result. It builds on a practice that has become universal in just a few years to generate engagement around your brand or event.

What is it for?

The Selfie Contest turns your participants into content creators. Each one takes a selfie directly from their phone, finds it in a gallery, and can share it with the people around them. You collect authentic visuals while boosting the virality of your experience.

Create a Selfie Contest

Once the Selfie Contest Add-on is activated, you can add it to your experience:

Choose the microsite format.

Add a new screen in the timeline.

Select Selfie Contest.

Note: you cannot add two Selfie Contests to the same experience. This creates a conflict in the CSV file and you risk losing some information related to your experience.

The four steps of the game

The Selfie Contest unfolds across four successive screens:

Intro: the welcome screen, where you explain the rules of the game.

Game: the actual selfie capture.

Gallery: where the participant views all the selfies they have taken.

End: the closing screen, where you thank participants and redirect them to your experience.

Customize the style and settings

You can tailor the Selfie Contest to your needs by allowing (or not):

file uploads;

participation with photos;

participation with videos, setting their minimum or maximum duration (expressed in seconds);

participation subject to moderation;

the close button;

the default list mode;

votes.

You can also customize the background color and enable moderation.

Accepted file formats

For both photos and videos, stick to the following formats:

webm;

mp4 (25 MB maximum, maximum duration of 4.58 min);

jpeg;

png (1999 x 1999 px and 8 MB maximum).

Favor vertical 9:16 formats, which are better suited to mobile display.

Add a filter

You can enhance your Selfie Contest with a filter using the + button. The filter must be in portrait 9:16 format (for example 1080 x 1920 px).

Filter behavior by device

The capture experience differs between Android and iOS:

Android: the participant takes their selfie directly from the game, with a live preview of the filter before the shot.

iOS: the Apple camera opens as an overlay for the shot. The filter does not appear at the moment the photo is taken; the participant only discovers it afterwards, applied to their image.

Warning: filter display partly depends on the screen size of the device being used.

Sharing and virality

You can add share buttons for email, Facebook, and X. Participants can then send their selfie to friends or colleagues, which naturally increases the number of participants.

Moderation

To make sure participants follow the theme and rules of your contest, enable moderation. You can then delete entries whenever necessary.

Best practices

Never add two Selfie Contests to the same experience, as this causes a conflict in the CSV file.

Prepare your filters in portrait 9:16 format (1080 x 1920 px) for optimal rendering on mobile.

Enable moderation when your contest is public, so you keep control over published content.

Take care with your intro screen: clear rules improve both the quality and the number of entries.

Add share buttons to maximize the virality of your contest.

Concrete use cases

If you want to collect authentic content

Let your participants take a selfie from their mobile device and find all their photos in the gallery. This gives you a bank of visuals generated by your community.

If you want to liven up a live event

Add a filter in the event's colors and enable votes: participants take photos of themselves, vote for their favorites, and share it all with the people around them.

If you want to keep control over what gets published

Enable moderation to approve or delete each entry and make sure the theme of your contest is respected.

FAQ

Can I add two Selfie Contests to the same Fastory experience?

No. Adding two Selfie Contests to the same experience creates a conflict in the CSV file and exposes you to losing some information. Create separate experiences if you need multiple contests.

Can participants submit a video instead of a photo?

Yes. In the Selfie Contest settings on Fastory, you can allow participation with videos and set a minimum or maximum duration, expressed in seconds.

Which file formats are accepted in a Fastory Selfie Contest?

The webm, mp4 (25 MB and 4.58 min maximum), jpeg, and png (1999 x 1999 px and 8 MB maximum) formats are supported. We recommend favoring vertical 9:16 visuals.

Why doesn't the filter show while taking the photo on iPhone?

On iOS, Fastory opens the Apple camera as an overlay, and the filter does not appear at the moment the photo is taken. The participant sees their image with the filter right after taking the selfie. On Android, however, the live filter preview remains available.

How do I moderate entries in my Selfie Contest?

Enable moderation in your Fastory Selfie Contest settings. You can then delete entries that do not follow the theme or rules of your contest.

On which networks can participants share their selfie?

You can place share buttons for email, Facebook, and X in your Fastory experience, so participants can share their selfie with the people around them.