Facebook F8 2018 review. Platform updates, new tech and dating.
Matt Payne, from Tribal’s Tech Engineering Practice, gives you the highlights of the F8 event and what it might mean for your brand in the future.
With the sudden announcement of WhatApp’s CEO Jan Koum’s departure due to a clash over Facebook’s privacy strategy coming on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica scandal — all eyes were on the Facebook F8 conference yesterday (Washington Post).
With all the controversy leading up to the F8 conference, the tone was very different this year. Historically it’s an event focused on new tech, shiny features, and enhancements, but yesterday’s keynote had speakers doing damage control — defending Facebook’s morals while squeezing in announcements of new features.
There were a few themes that emerged in this year’s keynote: relationships, preventing disasters, and your privacy (of course!). Now, putting all the scandals aside, here are some of the biggest announcements from yesterday’s event and what it means for brands.
Zuckerberg’s Keynote
During his opening speech, Zuckerberg addressed the election scandal and data privacy. More importantly, he stressed that all efforts were being made to fix these issues. Amongst the fixes was the plan to roll out AI tools to combat Donald Trump’s favourite line — fake news.
However, there are many reports that prove AI can create fake news faster than it can take it down. A recent Gartner study predicted that by 2022, the majority of people in advanced economies will see more false than true information. Within the report it also stated that even before that happens, faked content will outpace AI’s ability to detect it, changing how we trust digital information (Gartner).
Ultimately, Zuckerberg took the time to address the elephants (plural) in the room to ease users’ concerns about data privacy. Even though Facebook’s data usage shows that it hasn’t been affected by the scandal, and presumably to appease the brands that advertise on their platform (The Next Web).
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. In between the uncomfortable pauses and laughter, Zuckerberg did manage to talk about some new product and feature enhancements, which include:
- Instagram’s new explorer design and how it has officially stolen (sorry, developed) new features that resemble everything that Snapchat currently offers (e.g., filters, live video chat and stories from third-party brands)
- WhatsApp’s new sticker feature and group calling functionality.
- A new Dating App (why?! Because Facebook is all about Relationships, of course) With over 200 million users who have identified as being single on Facebook, they are now focusing on “building real long-term relationships, not just hookups…” says Zuckerberg.
- Messenger, gets a refresh, but mostly standard upgrades and a redesign to simplify the platform.
- VR, Oculus Go is now available for order for $199 at the lowest spec. This is a great step forward for VR and will make it much more accessible.
But the news that really got the crowd buzzing — came when Zuckerberg channeled his best Oprah and gave everyone in the room a free Oculus. But in all seriousness, we’ve summarised in-depth the new features announced and what they mean for you and your brand below.
Facebook platform — taking on Tinder
Potentially the biggest news for Facebook is the release of the new Dating feature. Yes people and presumably brands (eventually) of all ages (above 18 years old we presume), can now create a dating profile and search for your perfect match visually.
Mark Zuckerberg was keen to point out that this has been built with privacy and safety in mind from the very beginning. For those of you worried about being recommended to friends or family members, you don’t have to worry, as the app will not match you to anyone on your friends’ list. In fact, you will have to create a new dating profile which will be kept separate from your main one.
Users of the dating app can browse via groups and events to find their matches. Facebook is obviously following along the line of similar interests = romantic connection. As you browse you can start a private message conversation with the lucky person. Happy hunting!
Messenger — making it simple again
Messenger upgrades were as expected. In true Facebook ‘take from Snapchat’ style, you can now have branded Augmented Reality (AR) experiences on Messenger, which can be triggered straight from your bot conversation. The key difference is that you can trigger the AR feature straight from your chatbot. Facebook says “When a person interacts with your business in Messenger, you can prompt them to open the camera, which will be pre-populated with filters and AR effects that are specific to your brand.”
Simplifying Messenger’s interface, Facebook has also improved many of its interactions. To further support the eight billion messages businesses send each month, they have also released a new Customer Chat plug-in. This plug-in integrates directly with the brand’s websites. This not only allows brands to tap into AR functionality, but it also allows brands to seamlessly connect back to a user’s Facebook messenger account.
The AR feature leverages the nature of messaging to help people get valuable, instant feedback about purchases, customisations, and more, without ever needing to set foot in a store.”
Whilst this is still in Beta, a launch version for KIA among other brands is available now. The KIA AR bot allows users to display different car model types via the camera. A handy tool to see which looks best in your driveway!
Also, an impressive update to messenger is the real-time translation tool being implemented. Facebook’s AI digital assistant M, can offer suggested translated copy if not in your native language. This appears to only be in the marketplace for now, but expect a slow roll-out of language translations, which will increase over time.
Instagram — another stake in Snapchat’s heart
Live video chat is coming to Instagram. Since the launch of Live feeds, Instagram has dominated this space. The new video chat can be a great addition to this feature and one particularly useful for brands. For instance, as a car manufacturer, you set up demonstrations in your showrooms, launch new cars live on site, or provide more integrated customer support.
With the next generation leaving, or just not logging into Facebook anymore, Instagram is Facebook’s saving grace for the younger generation, allowing them to connect with their friends over group video calls, and plan where they are going to have brunch.
Instagram now lets you post stories from third-party apps as well. Using Spotify as an example, you can share to Instagram a picture of the track you are currently listening to.
Along with these are AR filters, which you can use in both face and worldview cameras.
This new feature lets brands and developers build experiences with ease that will appeal to the younger generation.
For those of you who love following hashtags in Instagram, there is good news. The explore area is gaining an upgrade. Designed to make it easier to find better content, the feed will offer a list of topics that users can view.
This may be a step in the right direction, as following a hashtag in your feed can really produce low-quality images and there is no real way to prevent anyone using any hashtag. Allowing users to navigate topics/hashtags in discover could remove the junk from your main feed.
WhatsApp — sticking with the group
WhatsApp finally comes of age and catches up to other messaging tools by adding group video chat. Groups have long been a cornerstone of the platform since their release and it has been somewhat strange that whilst one-to-one video chats were released two years ago, that a group chat has taken this long.
Taking a note from iMessage and WeChat, WhatsApp now allows stickers. No details yet on how to add your own though, however, we are sure that is coming.
VR / Oculus — a step in the right direction
The biggest VR news is that the Oculus Go is now available for order at a price tag of $199 USD at the lowest spec. This is a “good” step in the right direction for VR, making it much more accessible. Up until now, everything has been too expensive to truly break the market. While brands have tried to create VR experiences, a lot of users have hesitated to jump onboard at such a steep price.
Whilst we do not expect the Go to do this, it is a step in the right direction. And the price pushes it into the realm of gift buying rather than remortgaging.
The Oculus Go boasts support for up to 1,000 titles at launch.
P.S. no news on the Facebook in home voice device (Portal). Presumably due to the current landscape a listening device in your home isn’t the best foot forward.
Originally published on TribalWorldwide.co.uk
