Everyone has Facebook avatars now. Here's how to make your own

Show off your new Bitmoji- and Memoji-style self on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Avatars have been around for years, and now they've come to Facebook's. The social network may trail years behind Yahoo, Bitmoji and Apple's Memoji avatars, but the newest Facebook addition is filling your newsfeed with a variety of faces, hairstyles and outfits. Introduced last week, Facebook avatars let you create a cartoony character to resemble yourself, which you can use as stickers in comments, stories and Facebook Messenger.

In addition, your avatar can be used in place of your Facebook profile picture and can be used in text messages on your phone. You can also send the avatar stickers in apps like Snapchat, Twitter, Mail and Instagram.

Ready to dive in? Here's how to create your own Facebook avatar on your iPhone ($699 at Apple) or Android phone right now.

1. Open the Facebook app on your phone and tap the hamburger menu (three stacked lines). It could be in the lower right corner for iPhone and in the upper right corner for Android.

2. Scroll down and tap See More.

3. Select Avatars.

4. Tap Next and then Get Started.

5. Select your preferred skin tone (there are 27 options) and tap Next. 

6. You'll then be instructed to choose a hairstyle for your avatar. You can select Short, Medium or Long for a variety of styles. Once you've made your selection, tap the Color icon.

7. Next, you'll move on to your avatar's Face icon, where you'll select the face shape, complexion and face lines. 

8. After you've customized the face, tap the Eye icon. Select an eye shape, color and lash length. Then move on to the Eyebrows icon and select the brow shape and color. You can also add glasses.

9. Now it's time to customize the nose and mouth. Select your nose shape and then move on to your lips shape. You can also add a lip color and facial hair.

10. Next, select a body shape. Once you do this, you can choose an outfit that you like best. You can also choose to add a hat, scarf or cat ears to your avatar's outfit. 

11. Once you're finished customizing your avatar, tap the check mark icon in the upper right corner. Tap Next and then Done.

When you want to use it, you can access the avatar you made by tapping the smiley face icon in the Write a comment section of Facebook. 

That's it! Now you have a Facebook avatar that you can share with your friends.