The future is private…and very interesting!

Facebook F8 is the annual conference organised by Facebook, in the city of San Jose, California’s Silicon Valley. It is the biggest event of the year for Facebook. The conference showcases the global community and the new technologies that will be implemented in Facebook’s family of apps. Astrolabs’ Digital Managing Director, Efi Hatzigiannopoulou, was there and brings us the highlights of the conference!

Facebook: say goodbye to News Feed, welcome Events and Groups!

Facebook users have spoken: they prefer events and groups… and Facebook, for its part, assures that users get what they ask for.

For most users, Facebook groups are the most important reason to join Facebook. So, groups will be prominently marked at every point in the app!

What about making new friends?

Most of us have created our profiles many years ago… so we’ve mostly connected with friends, family and generally everyone we know. Facebook will make it easier for us to expand our social circle with the new “Meet New Friends” feature. With this feature it will help us meet people with whom we share the same interests and have met in the real world.

Instagram: more creativity, less numbers

So let’s face it, we don’t like that so much weight is given to the number of followers and likes on Instagram. For many users, hunting for likes is a stressful experience. Let’s think back, what did we originally like on Instagram? Its creative point of view and its friendliness.

So, Instagram comes back to the following: Reduces the importance of stats that can make people nervous and upgrades the camera interface with the addition of a new “Create Mode” feature, which makes it easier for users to post content beyond traditional photos and videos, creating posts from scratch without having to upload an existing photo or video!

And the exciting news: Instagram will allow people to buy products through the app, giving creators the ability to sell in addition to companies. How? With “product tags” (shopping tags) which will allow any influencer, artist or celebrity to tag clothing, or any product they promote so that followers can buy it in an instant, all via Instagram!

Facebook Messenger: smaller, faster & better

The new version of Facebook Messenger will be smaller, faster, support bots, payments, games and a new feature dedicated to your close friends and family. This feature will allow you to share videos you find on Facebook in Messenger and invite others to watch with you and exchange messages about it.

Facebook wants to improve your love life!

Do you have a secret love but are afraid to make the first move? Well Facebook is here for you! In case you like each other, Facebook will let you know. If the feelings are not mutual, don’t stress, no one will know and life goes on… :)!

The future is private

Mark Zuckerberg started the event with the message “The future is private”, stating that Facebook is well aware of the fact that people are reluctant to trust it. Thus, Facebook is focusing its efforts on connecting users to each other through its apps in the most secure way possible.