8 Biggest New Features and Changes Coming to Facebook

Facebook held its F8 developer's conference this week. And on Monday, the company announced a slew of changes that will be coming to its flagship platform, as well as its other services (such as Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp).

And while you might expect most of these to be privacy- or data-focused, they're not. While Facebook is implementing some new privacy features, most of the changes coming to the platform seem to hint that it's ready to move on from the recent scandal. Here are eight things you can expect in the coming months.

8 Clear History

In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook has a lot of eyes on it. Its privacy policies and use of user data have come under scrutiny in recent months. And in the interest of regaining user trust, Facebook is rolling out a new privacy feature in a few months.

It’s called Clear History. Like the name suggests, the feature will let Facebook users view all of the data that the firm has collected on them — and then delete all of it in one fell swoop. Of course, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook won’t “be as good” without that data.

There’s a caveat, however: Facebook will still share collective analytics data with apps and websites, but without “storing” the information in a way that can personally identify you. Whatever that means.

7 Facebook Dating

Let’s face it: online dating may not be everyone’s favorite thing about the digital era. But, in spite of that, Facebook seems ready to dive into online dating with a newly unveiled platform for “long-term relationships.”

Basically, it’ll be a dating page that’s separate from a user’s standard Facebook profile. Facebook will then match users to potential dates based on preferences, mutual friends, and shared interests. Its messaging feature will also be separate — and text-only for “safety reasons.”

6 Watch Party

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg prefaced another new feature, dubbed Watch Party. Facebook says Watch Party will make it easier to view videos with friends.

Basically, Watch Party is a way of setting up a video stream with a chat room attached to it. Facebook Group administrators, for example, will be able to easily organize a video with a chat room and invite group members to it. We’re not sure what exactly that video content may entail — but Facebook could try pulling off collective movie viewing, or something similar.

5 Group Calling & Video Chatting

In addition to changes coming to its flagship platform, Facebook also announced two additions to other social media and communication platforms that it owns: Instagram and WhatsApp.

For Instagram, the tech giant is going to implement video chatting into the picture-sharing platform akin to Facebook Messenger. In the case of the latter platform, Facebook is adding group calling capabilities to WhatsApp in the coming months.

4 Augmented Reality Updates

Facebook probably doesn’t want to be late to the augmented reality party, so to speak. And at its F8 conference, the social media titan unveiled several new AR-focused features coming to its various platforms.

The Messenger feature will let businesses add their own branded filters or effects to the platform, letting users “try out” products before buying them. It also announced new updates to its AR Studio, including support for Instagram users and AR filter-creators.

3 Crisis Response

It’s not all fun and games at Facebook. The platform’s Crisis Response toolset includes features that can actually help out in emergencies and disasters. Of particular note is Safety Check, which lets users mark themselves as “safe” in chaotic times.

But this week, Facebook announced that Crisis Response will be updated with a feature that lets users more easily share first-person accounts about disasters and emergencies. That data can include first-hand reports, pictures and video footage — which should let users more easily track and follow disaster scenarios.

2 Built-In Language Translations

In the past, Facebook relied on a third-party service — Microsoft Bing — for language translations. But now, the company will implement first-party translation engine for at least one platform: Marketplace, Facebook’s e-commerce system for user buying and selling.

It’s called M Translations, and it’ll work pretty simply. If you receive a message on Marketplace in a language you don’t speak, Facebook will ask you if you’d like that message translated. At launch, it’ll support Spanish and English. And though it’s rolling out for Marketplace messages initially, Facebook said it’ll eventually expand to all Messenger users (presumably, with additional supported languages added in later on).

1 A Revamped Messenger App

Facebook’s Messenger app is incredibly popular. Despite that, the interface hasn’t seen a refresh in a while — and one could argue that it’s a bit cluttered and unfriendly to users.

Luckily, Facebook announced that they’re going to completely revamp the app. In addition to updates that’ll make it easier to navigate, the overhaul should include a new dark mode. It’s apparently been in development since early this year, and Facebook says it’ll roll out to users “very, very soon.”