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mayo 15, 2019
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Marketing Digital
Since 2007, Facebook has organized an annual conference (with the exception of some years) called Facebook F8 aimed at its users, in which more than 5,000 web developers, marketing specialists, startup directors, among other professions, participate with the aim of learning about the latest developments and updates to this social network. This year was no exception and from April 30 to May 1 in San José - California (Silicon Valley) F8 2019 was held , although this time, from a more global perspective on the future of social networks.
The name “F8” comes from Facebook’s tradition of holding 8-hour hackathons. Hackathons are marathons of intensive work focused on achieving a final result, which within the context of Facebook, were carried out by web developers and programmers at Harvard University, including Mark Zuckerberg in 2003 (a year before creating this social network).
What's new for 2019?
Greater privacy for users
After a year marked by controversial accusations regarding user privacy, the inappropriate use of data for electoral campaigns and the viralization of fake news, this conference aimed to emphasize how important it is for the company to preserve the privacy of its consumers in the face of companies.
“The future is private” was one of the most important phrases throughout the conference, which seems to be contradictory and paradoxical in the world of social networks, where people tend to reveal aspects of their personal lives that in other times, they would classify as private. In this sense, Facebook executives placed greater emphasis on their goals to extend end-to-end encryption to other apps such as Messenger. “People want to interact privately. We want our private moments to be seen only by the people we want” were Zuckerberg’s words. Here you can see the last post he made on his account in which he talks more about this new philosophy.
Virtual reality viewers
At F8, the Oculus VR company announced two new virtual reality headsets: the Quest and Rift S, which work wirelessly and independently since they have their own integrated system called Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. Both technological proposals seek to position themselves as a reference in the entertainment sector with video games and interactive experiences, but also as a productive tool for training and collaborative work.
On Facebook
New interface design
After seven years of presenting its users with a very similar design and with quite subtle changes, this new interface design and update called FB5, breaks with everything that came before and is positioned as one of the most radical redesigns to date. Now, instead of having the classic blue bar at the top of the page, it will be replaced by a new one in which we can find options and more direct access to our notifications, friends, messages, profiles, etc.
In this new design, Facebook seeks to highlight, rather than posts from friends and fan pages, the information shared in groups and events, since 400 million people are significant members of groups, creating a prominent section to access them. This change will also be carried out in the mobile app and in its web version, which we can now enjoy on the entire screen of our cell phone.
The redesign is primarily intended to help people expand their social circles, also including a new feature called “Meet New Friends” which aims to connect us with other people who have something in common with us such as the university or work we attend.
Secret Crush
Facebook Dating is a service that many Facebook users have already enjoyed, and in this process of updates, a new section called “Secret Crush” was incorporated, which allows you to create a secret list of up to nine potential dates. If any of them is also registered on Dating, the person will receive a message notifying them that they have an admirer. If the interest is mutual, then the platform indicates the existence of a “match” just like it happens on Tinder.
And Instagram
New camera interface
The new Instagram update announced at F8 2019 will feature a new camera interface in qatar number for whatsapp which the options to choose the different video formats to use in stories, such as lives, texts, boomerangs and filters, will be in a circular format. In addition, they will incorporate a new option called “Creation Mode” in which it will be easier to share content other than images and video, such as questionnaires.
Hide likes
Instagram is first testing in Canada before rolling it out to other countries a system that will hide almost all likes in people’s feeds, so that your followers can focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get. The feature will be tested in Canada and if it proves popular, we could see it rolled out to other countries.
Instagram Shopping 2.0
A year ago, Instagram launched Instagram Shopping, a tool that allows businesses to add buttons with price information and links to online stores to their images, making consumer purchases on this social network much more dynamic.
At F8 2019 , new in-app purchasing options were mentioned, and among them will be the possibility that not only businesses, but also individuals can add these buttons to their posts, thus allowing their followers to purchase the accessories they use in the image. This new update will further position Instagram as a monetization platform for all its users.
And WhatsApp
Regarding the issue of privacy, WhatsApp has had end-to-end encryption for its conversations since 2016, so in this new opportunity, they will focus on expanding their functions for companies, so they will work on introducing a catalog so that users can learn about the products and services that companies offer.
A Messenger
Speed and intermodality of use
“In the next year we want to make Messenger the fastest messaging platform on the planet” were the most striking words about this platform. To achieve this, it is intended to do so with Lightspeed technology, a new version that takes up less than 30 MB. To maintain user privacy, Facebook is working to introduce end-to-end encryption to Messenger, which has already been used in WhatsApp since 2016.
In addition, the developers of this application will be working to add new features, such as dark mode, an exclusive section to view messages and stories from our closest friends and even being able to watch a video while we are making a call.
This new Messenger update announced at F8 2019 will allow us to make calls and send messages not only to other Facebook contacts, but also to our Instagram and WhatsApp contacts.
Messenger for desktop
During Facebook F8 2019, the social network announced that it is working on a desktop app that will give Windows and MacOS operating systems access to Messenger directly from the desktop. This desktop version will also include voice calls, group video calls, and other similar features to the mobile version.
In short, Facebook has a wide variety of updates in store for us across all of its platforms, which will be carried out around a perspective focused on privacy, interaction between known people, and interconnectivity between platforms.