8 Takeaways From Day One of Facebook's F8 Conference

With so many tech conferences and conventions out there, it is safe to say that we have a few on our bucket list. Since SXSW has been checked off four times, we need to maneuver our way to CES, Adobe Summit, Apple's WWDC, and Facebook's F8 as the four always appear to be so intriguing.

With F8 2018 kicking off yesterday in San Jose, we spent a good portion of the day trying to keep up with all of the breaking tech and social media news from the grand event. More eyes were on this year's conference than ever before due to Facebook's many recent headlines regarding user data, privacy, and the looming GDPR deadline. The date of this year's conference was timely and, in my opinion, total Kris Jenner-style because there is no better way to tell your story than on your own stage.

If you did not have the chance to check out the news from F8, we are here to plug you into eight points that made us perk up.

 

Facebook wants to play matchmaker

Facebook has always been one of the easiest ways to meet people from school and events, so it only makes sense that the platform will now compete with Tinder and Bumble to help people find their soulmates.

The new dating feature will be opt-in only and will match users with people they are not friends with on Facebook. But user beware: There is a chance you can be matched with people who show they are in a relationship or married on Facebook. The company's reasoning is due to not discriminating against open relationships. 

And according to TechCrunch, "Match Group’s stock plummeted by more than 17 percent as soon as [this] news was announced," so this is big.

Surprise! People are actually using Facebook Stories

Many of us left Snapchat as soon as Instagram Stories debuted. We simply did not see the point in posting content to such a secretive platform when we were getting three times the views on Instagram. It was a no brainer.

With that being said, we were totally shocked to learn that people are *actually* using Facebook Stories and that we may now have to add it to our content strategy. Even though most of us have never watched a Facebook Story, there are obviously numerous audiences that are. If you are a marketer, take note of this trend on Facebook, and on other platforms, so that you and your brand are not being left behind.

 

Yes, Facebook is trying to get better with security and privacy

The first post we saw regarding F8 was one about data protection and how Facebook plans to hire thousands of people in order to make this happen. This is due to all of the news surrounding the platform and Cambridge Analytica.

The big privacy story from F8 is that Facebook users will soon be able to clear their browsing history as quickly as they can erase their history on Chrome or Safari. The new "Clear History" feature can also wipe away all data that Facebook has collected from ads and websites and users can opt out to prevent collection in the future. Talk about a fresh start.

 

Instagram is launching group video chat

The days of needing Skype or Snapchat to make a group video call are close to over thanks to Instagram. This should not be a surprise to many since users can already request to "co-host" an Instagram Live stream with a friend.

No word on how many people can be on an Instagram video chat at once, but it could be a max of 15 just like an Instagram Direct chat. Fun times ahead.

A new Instagram Explore tab is on the way

The biggest rabbit hole we know outside of YouTube and Target is getting a total revamp. The Instagram Explore page will soon feature categories to help users find what they are looking for (or what they are not looking for) even faster. 

The top row of the new Explore page features categories that are popular on Instagram. Once you click into a category, users will be able to see a set of hashtags that are related to the topic. This will be very helpful for those who take advantage of using their max of 30 hashtags on each Instagram post.

 

Facebook Messenger gets a redesign

The process of going through an app redesign should keep all designers on their toes due to the extremely negative feedback that came after Snapchat gave their app a facelift. However, the Facebook team is confident that an updated look and feel will keep Messenger at the top of the free social networking apps page in iTunes.

Other than a new look, the app will also have AR camera effects, easier language translation, and a dark mode that we love!

 

There is even more augmented reality headed our way

We are not too wild about Snapchat or Instagram filters, but since so many people are, Facebook is giving us even more.

Instagram users will now see user-designed filters and even be able to play around with filters that are seen in the Stories of others. 

 

Cross-promotion and sharing are about to take off

It will soon be unnecessary to take a screenshot of the track you are listening to on Spotify and add the photo to your Instagram Story manually. Thanks to partnerships with apps like Musically, SoundCloud, and GoPro, users will be able to share content to their Facebook and Instagram Stories with just a few simple steps. This decision makes sense for Instagram since they recently revealed a feature that allows users to natively embed the Instagram Stories of others for 24 hours if they are tagged in that story.

We are excited to see the other apps Facebook and Instagram partner with down the line. My hopes are for Squarespace (hello, blog distribution is hard!), and Twitter so people can cross-promote funny content, but we know the latter certainly will not be the case for obvious reasons. We can dream though!

What is your favorite takeaway from F8? What are you most looking forward to from Facebook and Instagram? Let us know in the comments below!

Updates & NewsAlexis JohnsonFacebook, F8, Instagram, Augmented Reality, MessengerComment