NEW YORK: Facebook’s annual developer conference, better known as F8, has kicked off, with the tech giant announcing a slew of welcome additions to the well-loved social network site.
Messenger Platform and Businesses for Messenger
First up, and most likely the highlight of the day, is Messenger as a developer platform. According to Facebook, Messenger Platform is a way to make conversations as customizable as ever. More than 40 new apps have been prepared, all of which can be installed by users to enhance their Messenger experience through the use of photos, GIFs, audio clips and videos.
Another feature previewed today was Businesses on Messenger, which is exactly what the name suggests. Focusing on the relationship between entrepreneurs and consumers, Businesses enable people who have purchased a product to continue their transaction through the use of Messenger.
Facebook has announced that Businesses for Messenger “will initially launch with a couple of partners.”
Real-time Comments
Next up is the new commenting system. The idea sounds simple, but it will undoubtedly affect how site visitors interact with each other.
The revamped comments section now allows users to view comments, according to Darrell Etherington of TechCrunch, “both on the web pages where they appear, and on links shared on FB itself, and also see replies made in either place across both essentially in real-time.”
This new commenting system is currently being tested in a few websites such as BuzzFeed and Huffington Post.
Embedding videos
Users can now embed their Facebook videos to external websites. The method is similar to other video websites with the Embed function.
The move is seen as Facebook’s way of penetrating the video streaming scene.
The tech company also previewed “an immersive, 360-degree video experience in News Feed that lets you choose the viewing angle to explore your surroundings.” Spherical videos can be accessed through the Oculus, via Oculus VR.
Mark Zuckerberg has also announced that in the near future, the video experience will support live broadcasts.
Facebook’s F8 will continue with Day 2, which sees Facebook Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer and Michael Abrash, Oculus Chief Scientist, discussing Connectivity Lab, Facebook AI Research, and the Oculus VR.
