Facebook acquired TBH, an app for giving anonymous – but positive – feedback to friends.

TBH said it will continue with its work, “now with plenty more resources”. It has so far only seen limited geographic availability within the US, and is only available on iOS.

But with its launch only taking place early in August 2017, it gained some traction and Facebook clearly felt the need to act quickly. The acquisition will give the social network access to an app targeting younger users, bringing them into the Facebook user community via a route other than its established apps.

According to TechCrunch, the app racked up 5 million downloads and garnered 2.5 million active daily users. While it will continue to run as a standalone app, the company’s founders will become “formal Facebook employees” rather than continuing with a greater degree of independence – as was the case with the much bigger Instagram and WhatsApp deals.

TBH received more than 1 billion answers to its “fun, uplifting polls”, examples of which include “who is most likely to be president?” or “best person to go on a road trip with?”. Polls must be “appropriate for ages 13 and up; uplifting; and not offensive to any group”.

Responses are anonymous, and TBH is looking to avoid the cyberbullying which dogged some rivals.