The future of Facebook will be less scrolling and more swiping, as the social network pivots away from a public news feed to private messaging and shopping.
In the last three years, the number of people using Facebook’s WhatsApp has almost doubled
Facebook will run a test in Canada to remove the number of likes on Instagram photos
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a fresh design for the world’s biggest social network as Facebook tries to move past a stream of scandals.
From trialling the removal of “likes” from Instagram to taking cues from China’s superapp WeChat, Zuckerberg heralded a number of changes to Facebook’s broader social network.
Proclaiming “the future is private”, Zuckerberg signalled that Facebook’s News Feed would be de-emphasized in favour of revamping its messaging app, online marketplace and video-on-demand site.
The company also rolled out features aimed at encouraging users to interact with their close social circle as well as with businesses, such as a “Secret Crush” option for Facebook Dating and a tool for appointment booking.
Facebook Dating is not currently available in Australia — it launched in Colombia last year and operates in Thailand, Canada, Argentina and Mexico, but is set to be expanded to 14 more countries, including Malaysia, Brazil, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines.
Zuckerberg in March promised changes to the advertising-driven social media company as it was under regulatory scrutiny over propaganda on its platform and users’ data privacy.
“We believe that there is a community for everyone. So we’ve been working on a major evolution to make communities as central as friends,” said Zuckerberg, speaking at Facebook’s annual F8 conference, where the company gives developers a peek at new product releases.
In the last three years, the number of people using Facebook’s WhatsApp has almost doubled.
The social media company is now working on “LightSpeed” in order to make its Messenger app smaller in size and faster, while a desktop version of Messenger will be available later this year.
Later this week, Facebook will run a test in Canada for a major change to its Instagram app that would remove the number of likes on photos as well as video views from users’ feeds, permalink pages and profiles.
The original poster will be able to keep track of their likes, but these won’t show up on the main feed.
The reported rationale is to get users to “focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get”.
Facebook had delayed rolling out certain products at last year’s F8 event, which came soon after revelations it inappropriately shared information belonging to 87 million users with now-defunct British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica.
Other Facebook executives introduced changes within the Messenger and Instagram apps aimed at helping businesses connect with customers, including appointment booking and enhanced shopping features as well as a tool to lure customers into direct conversations with companies via ads.
The online advertising market is largely dominated by Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
But the field is more diverse for messaging, e-commerce and payments, with big players like Amazon.com, Microsoft and eBay, as well as fast-growing Silicon Valley unicorns like a workplace, messaging app Slack and video conferencing service Zoom Video Communications.
“We’ve shown time and again as a company that we have what it takes to evolve,” Zuckerberg said.
