Why Don't I Have Colorful Facebook Statuses? The Bright Backgrounds Are Coming Soon

A new Facebook feature is about to hit News Feeds around the world, giving our statuses mood ring capabilities: Soon, users will be able to set a background color for each of their text posts, making them bright and eye-catching. But if you are wondering, “Why don’t I have colorful Facebook statuses yet?”... well, first off, you're not alone. And second, the answer most likely lies in your mobile device.

Facebook recently launched a testing phase of the new status options, TechCrunch reports; says a Facebook spokesperson to Bustle via email, “We're rolling out a change to help people make their text posts more visual. Starting today, people can update the background color of their text-only posts on Android.” The new feature will be rolling out globally over the week of Dec. 19, but there’s a catch: While the stylized statuses will be viewable on all iOS and Android devices as well as the web, use of the feature will be exclusively available to Android users (at least for now).

So, the short answer to our initial question is, either you don't have an Android, or you're not one of the luck folks who's gotten the feature yet. Why Facebook has specifically made this feature Android-only is still a mystery, but everyone should feel special now and then, right? Those with iPhones will just have to look at their bright feed with envy, and hope that Facebook takes pity on those still confined to the same old default black type on a white background soon. I know it's not fair, but alas, that is life.

Behold the Facebook's new status options in all their vibrant glory:

Facebook has been working on new tools to enhance the videos and photos, but didn't want what used to be the backbone of the platform — plain ol' words — to be neglected. Hence, the bright status update was conceived as a way to put the emphasis back on personal text posts.

It seems original content has gotten lost among the cat videos and clickbait, so to bring the focus back to the users, the feature encourages Facebookers to share their unique experiences, opinions, updates, and moods with their rainbow customizations. Several of the color options give you a modern gradient look, so even your words can be a fashionable ombre.

If you feel like your News Feed has become an echo chamber of forwarded links and fake news, you're not alone. In April of this year, it was reported that “original content broadcasting” on Facebook declined by 21 percent year over year since mid-2015. To combat this significant dip in original updates from family and friends, Facebook has added its big-text feature, which has been floating around since July. Piggybacking on the success of Twitter's brief text-heavy posts, Facebook statuses of 35-characters or less appear in giant font.

Combine this striking text with a bold color, and those personal messages might not fade to the background after all. So long, black and white; 2017 is all about the rainbow!

Image: Hirurg/E+/Getty Images