Automates trending news
Facebook changes its trending news feature to an automated solution, which the company says will eliminate bias caused by human curation.
Our goal is to enable Trending for as many people as possible, which would be hard to do if we relied solely on summarizing topics by hand. A more algorithmically driven process allows us to scale Trending to cover more topics and make it available to more people globally over time. This is something we always hoped to do but we are making these changes sooner given the feedback we got from the Facebook community earlier this year. the potential for bias, the Company says it will no longer rely on editors to write descriptions for the topics and would instead show users the topic and how many people are discussing it.
WhatsApp, Facebook to share data
Facebook announces that WhatsApp will start sharing users phone numbers with Facebook. The company says the change will allow for more relevant advertisements and friend recommendations. It is WhatsApp’s first update to its privacy policy since it was acquired by Facebook. WhatsApp will also explore ways for businesses to send messages using its platform over the next several months.
Launches Lifestage
Facebook releases an iPhone app, called Lifestage, that allows teens to watch clips about the lives of their classmates. Anyone can download the app, although seeing profiles of other users is reserved for those 21 years of age or younger. The social network allows users to make video clips to describe likes, peeves, dance styles, and other aspects of their character. The app is designed by Facebook product manager Michael Sayman, who is 19 years old.
Back in 2004, Facebook was all about ‘who I am’. I could post my relationship status. I could share what my favourite music was. And it was all about expressing myself. Today as Facebook has grown into so much more, we see the opportunity to explore that concept of ‘who I am’ once again, but for Generation Z in 2016.
Warns users of nation-state intrusions
Facebook starts notifying users if it believes their accounts have been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state. Whenever a user’s account is accessed by a new device or browser, the company will send a security code to the account owner’s phone to verify that only the account user is trying to access the account.
The security of people’s accounts is paramount at Facebook, which is why we constantly monitor for potentially malicious activity and offer many options to proactively secure your account. Starting today, we will notify you if we believe your account has been targeted or compromised by an attacker suspected of working on behalf of a nation-state.
Reactions
Facebook starts testing “reactions,” which extend the site’s “like button” functions with new options : Love, Haha, Yay, Wow, Sad and Angry. Keeping with Zuckerberg’s wishes, there is no “Dislike” button. The test is currently limited to users in Ireland and Spain. Zuckerberg:
For many years though, people have asked us to add a “dislike” button. Not every moment is a good moment, and sometimes you just want a way to express empathy. These are important moments where you need the power to share more than ever, and a Like might not be the best way to express yourself. Reactions gives you new ways to express love, awe, humor and sadness. It’s not a dislike button, but it does give you the power to easily express sorrow and empathy — in addition to delight and warmth.
Photo doodling
Facebook launches a feature for its photo-editing suite of tools that gives you the ability to scribble right on a photo before publishing it to the social network.
Developing dislike button
Zuckerberg says Facebook will roll out a button that lets users dislike comments and posts.
I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Today is a special day because today is the day I can say we’re working on it and shipping it.
Zuckerberg said the initial interface for Facebook didn’t allow for a dislike button because he didn’t want it to become a Reddit-like forum where posts and comments get upvoted and downvoted.
That isn’t what we’re here to build in the world. What they really want is the ability to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment.
Expands Internet.org
Facebook expands the free basic mobile internet service, saying it will help billions of people without internet, mostly from Latin America, Asia, and Africa. It now allows any mobile operator to develop under the platform. The service has brought over 9 million people online over the past year with more than half of the users end up paying to access the wider web within 30 days. Source:
This is really a customer acquisition tool for mobile operators where the benefit to them of offering a very light amount of free data is to bring on more paying subscribers to their networks.
Tests online stores
Facebook is testing a feature that allows some small and medium businesses to sell products through their pages. Users can browse products on the company Facebook profile pages and either buy directly from their facebook page or be redirected to the company’s website. The feature is being tried in both mobile and desktop sites.
Valued at $250 billion
Facebook is valued at over $250 billion just three years after its IPO, the fastest company to reach that benchmark in Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. It is now the ninth largest company in the S&P 500.
‘Amber Alert’ system introduced
Facebook Canada release a system to send out notices and photos to assist in child abduction cases. A similar system has been working for the past four months in the United States.
[We hope that] the new system would help turn the social network community in Canada into one big neighbourhood watch.
Introduces Instant Articles
Facebook introduces the inclusion of articles by selected publishers inside the Facebook iOS app. Publishers include The Atlantic, BBC, BuzzFeed, Bild, The Guardian, National Geographic, NBC, Spiegel, and The New York Times. Not all pieces from these publishers will be distributed as an Instant Article at first. Pubnlishers will receive 100$% of ad revenues on their own ads, or 70% of ad revbenue when Facebook sells ads on their behalf. The app allows sharing of articles to Pinterest and Twitter. Product Manager:
Along with a faster experience, Instant Articles introduces a suite of interactive features that allow publishers to bring their stories to life in new ways. Zoom in and explore high-resolution photos by tilting your phone. Watch auto-play videos come alive as you scroll through stories. Explore interactive maps, listen to audio captions, and even like and comment on individual parts of an article in-line.
Friendlier News Feed
Facebook announce three changes to the content that is displayed in users news feed. The changes will increase the amount of content from close friends in users feed.
The first is improving the experience for people who don’t have a lot of content available to see. Previously, we had rules in place to prevent you from seeing multiple posts from the same source in a row. With this update, we are relaxing this rule…The second update tries to ensure that content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it. If you like to read news or interact with posts from pages you care about, you will still see that content in News Feed…Lastly, many people have told us they don’t enjoy seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post. This update will make these stories appear lower down in News Feed or not at all, so you are more likely to see the stuff you care about directly from friends and the pages you have liked.
Curbs hate speech, terror support, nudity
The Company says it will take down “graphic images when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence,” and that it will not tolerate “supporting or praising leaders [criminal or terrorist] organizations, or condoning their violent activities.”
Nudity will banned except for images of breastfeeding, art or discussions of medical conditions:
These standards are designed to create an environment where people feel motivated and empowered to treat each other with empathy and respect.
Feeling Fat status removed
The Company removes the “feeling fat” emoticon from its status menu after the group Endangered Bodies launched multiple Change.org petitions to persuade Facebook to remove the puffed-up and rosy cheeked image. The group says the option is problematic for people who struggle with eating disorders. Facebook:
We’ve heard from our community that listing ‘feeling fat’ as an option for status updates could reinforce negative body image, particularly for people struggling with eating disorders. So we’re going to remove ‘feeling fat’ from the list of options. We’ll continue to listen to feedback as we think about ways to help people express themselves on Facebook.
Catherine Weingarten, a 24-year-old Ohio student who launched the U.S. petition:
As someone who struggled with body image, I feel so happy that I am eliminating one form of body shaming hatred on the internet.
Suicide prevention plan
Facebook joins with Now Matters Now, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Save.org and Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention to give users more options to report posts indicating the user could be thinking of self harm. Users will be able to click a small arrow at the top right of the post and click “Report Post” If Facebook feels like the post indicates distress, the person who posted it will be greeted with a pop when he or she next logs in.
Buys security start-up
In an effort to protect the site from cyber attacks, Facebook purchases PrivateCore, a company that builds security software. Joe Sullivan, Facebook’s chief security officer, says PrivateCore’s technology:
protects servers from persistent malware, unauthorized physical access, and malicious hardware devices.
Based in Palo Alto, CA, the company was started in 2012 by security experts from Google and VMware. PrivateCore CEO Oded Horovitz says the deal gives both companies “a huge opportunity to pursue our joint vision at scale with incredible impact.” Neither company discloses the purchase price.
Sandberg: No study apology
Facebook is not apologizing for performing a psychological study on nearly 690,000 of its users in 2012. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg explains:
This was part of ongoing research companies do to test different products, and that was what it was. It was poorly communicated. And for that communication we apologize. We never meant to upset you. We clearly communicated really badly about this, and that we really regret.
Manipulated news feeds
In January 2012, for one week, Facebook manipulated the news feeds of more than a half a million users to see how postings that were being shown in the news feed effects the types of posts the users themselves would post after viewing them. The results were published this month in the academic journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The findings show users who saw more negative content were more likely to create their own negative posts. Users who viewed more positive content were more likely to create positive posts. In response to the many upset users of the site, Facebook Data Scientist, Adam Kramer:
The goal of all of our research at Facebook is to learn how to provide a better service. Having written and designed this experiment myself, I can tell you that our goal was never to upset anyone.
Company diversity report
Facebook’s first diversity report states most of their workers are white males. The report reveals that 69% of Facebook’s global staffers are male and 85% of the company’s tech workers and 77% of its management team, are also men. The company’s U.S. workforce is 57% white, 34% Asian, 4% Hispanic and 2% black. Maxine Williams, Facebook’s global head of diversity:
As these numbers show, we have more work to do — a lot more.