Mark Zuckerberg announces new ‘Clear History’ option & more at Facebook’s F8 Conference
‘This is the kind of control that we think people should have,’ said Zuckerberg, after announcing users will be able to clear their browsing history on the site.
Facebook kicked off its F8 Developers Conference Tuesday with a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“This has been an intense year. I can’t believe we’re only four months in,” said Zuckerberg, who was no doubt referring in part to the firestorm since Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica for exploiting user data.
He moved on, offering a brief overview of recent announcements the site has made around data privacy issues and actions it was taking to safeguard user information. Zuckerberg talked about how the company now limits the data available to apps and the app removal tool it rolled out last month to make it easier for users to delete unwanted apps.
New Clear History tool
In addition to summarizing actions already taken, Zuckerberg announced Facebook would be rolling out a Clear History tool that would let users clear their browsing history on the platform and see all the apps they had interacted with.
“This is the kind of control we think people should have,” said Zuckerberg, but only after noting how clearing your history may make your Facebook experience worse, as the platform won’t be able to serve up content based on your activity.
Zuckerberg recapped all the ways the site was addressing issues around election interference, fighting fake news and data privacy issues, claiming that what happened with Cambridge Analytica was a “major breach of trust.”
He also said that the company was slow to identify the ways Russia had used the platform to interfere in the 2016 elections, but that his team would never be unprepared again. He then outlined Facebook’s primary messaging points around these issues: that they have AI tools constantly monitoring and taking down fake accounts, the new ad policies they’ve introduced to enforce political ad transparency, and the company’s push to have 20,000 people working on security by the end of 2018.
Once Zuckerberg was able to address all the ways Facebook was working to fix its data-crisis issues — none of which are all that appealing if you are a developer tasked with designing Facebook apps — he moved on to new product announcements.
Facebook launches Watch Party, a Groups tab, and new dating profiles
The first new feature Zuckerberg announced was Watch Party — a video tool that lets users watch a video with other users and chat at the same time.
“For example, if one of your friends is testifying before Congress,” said Zuckerberg, showing an example of how the Watch Party video feature would work, using footage of his recent appearance before Congress.
The site is also launching a new Groups Tab to make Groups “more central” to the Facebook experience. In addition to putting a tab in place for Groups, it is also launching a “Join Group” button that developers can put on websites, in emails, or in other places outside of Facebook to make joining groups easier.
Zuckerberg also announced that the site would be rolling out a Dating Profile app for users but left details around it to be covered in the follow-up presentation with Facebook’s chief of product, Chris Cox.
Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger Updates
In addition to the coming Facebook-specific products, the company is also polishing up Instagram with a new design for the Explorer section, now organizing content around content channels. Instagram is also getting video chat for one-on-one and group conversations, as well as AR camera effects.
AR camera effects are also coming to Messenger and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg said WhatsApp will also be getting a group video-calling feature soon.
Before going into the details around updates to WhatsApp, Zuckerberg took a moment to thank Jan Koum, the CEO of WhatsApp, and said he was deeply grateful for all Koum’s work. Koum announced yesterday in a Facebook post on his personal page that he was leaving the company, saying that he was taking some time to enjoy things outside of technology.