Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off this year’s F8 future tech event with a keynote that centered around Facebook itself, including goals that involve, among other things, dating and blood donations. It goes without saying that AR and VR were also key parts of the address, as were the companies many platforms ranging from Messenger to Instagram and WhatsApp. However, for the social network itself, Zuckerberg began by revealing a new tool Facebook users will soon have access to in response to the recent controversies surrounding the company. Called Clear History, the feature will allow users to see all of the external sites and apps that have known access to user data. That information will be removable and users will be able to stop the storage of data from happening in the future. There’s no information yet available with regards to when that feature will be introduced but given the circumstances, it won’t likely take too much longer to be announced in full.
Looking past Clear History, Facebook will also be rolling out a new way for users to share from their installed apps without linking up a Facebook or Instagram account. Instead, users will be able to, for example, share the music they are listening to directly into the camera via a simple tap on the share button. That will presumably, in that use case, import the audio into the video itself. Beyond that, the company is introducing a new tab called Groups, which highlights users’ existing groups and places interactions with those all in one place. Through Groups, users will also be able to look for and join new groups at some point later on in 2018. Also rolling out later this year, Facebook’s Crisis Response Center will be updated to allow sharing of firsthand accounts related to a given crisis. That will include the ability to share photos and videos of damage or road closures and more.
A couple of other new features are also set to be introduced, as mentioned above. The first appears to be a bid to take on larger online dating firms. The feature will begin testing later on in the year and will allow individuals to set up separate dating profiles, with potential matches being derived from input preferences, things shared in common, and mutual friends. Users will also be able to discover like-minded individuals through Groups and events, though that will be optional. None of the dating activity will be shown to their friends, either. So it will, in theory, be relatively private. Last, but certainly not least, the company is enhancing its blood donations features that were first launched in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Now, beyond simply registering to donate blood, Blood Donations participants will be able to find blood donation camps and view other pertinent information through a dedicated space on Facebook. That change will roll out over the next several weeks.