Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took center stage at the company’s F8 developers conference, making announcements of new features that the social media platform will offer in the future.
Here are four things to know about what users will be seeing once the programming is rolled out.
Dating
Facebook is wanting to become the go-to dating app that will lead to long-term relationships, CNN reported.
Zuckerberg noted that 200 million users are marked as single on Facebook right now.
“This is going to be for building long-term relationships, not just hookups. It’s going to be in the Facebook app but it’s totally optional,” Zuckerberg said.
He said the feature will be opt-in only and will suggest people who are not already listed as user's friends, to keep the connections private, CNN reported.
Users, who are listed as single, will be allowed to build a dating profile, using first names only. There will be an inbox that will be separate from the standard one, specifically for dating and it won’t allow photos.
Clear history
The company will introduce a tool that is called "Clear History." It will allow Facebook users to see what has access to their account and allow them to delete it, CBS reported.
“To be clear, when you clear your cookies in your browser, it can make parts of your experience worse. You may have to sign back in to every website, and you may have to reconfigure things. The same will be true here. Your Facebook won’t be as good while it relearns your preferences,” Zuckerberg posted to his Facebook account before the start of the F8 conference.
Messenger updates
Facebook is taking the lead in augmented reality through Messenger and is encouraging its users to make AR more realistic.
Facebook is adding to its Messenger app hoping that its 1 billion users will use it to shop. The features that Facebook will roll out include not only adding augmented reality, but also automatic language translations and artificial intelligence tools, CNET reported. Developers hope the changes will help small businesses communicate with customers.
AR Studio
Facebook also announced a new version of AR Studio that allows people to build options to put graphics on top of whatever you see in your camera lens. It is a partnership with Sketchfab that will allow users to go through that company's library and add the animation in Facebook and other apps like Instagram and Facebook Messenger, CNET reported.
Credit: Justin Sullivan
Credit: Justin Sullivan
Zuckerberg's keynote address came just weeks after he appeared before congressional committees about Facebook's role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. F8 was the company's first attempt to reconnect with developers, and even users, who may have lost confidence with the company concerning data privacy, the BBC reported.
The data of 87 million Facebook users all over the world was taken and used by Cambridge Analytica, a company with ties to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, CNN reported. The data was originally collected by a professor within the rules of Facebook, but then it was given to third parties like Cambridge Analytica, and that was in volition of Facebook's policies.
Facebook has already taken steps to limit what is shared with third-party apps, CNN reported.
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