Facebook F8: 8 Takeaways From Social Shake-Up Speakers
By: Sophie Maerowitz
May 3, 2018
At its F8 Facebook Developers Conference, Facebook announced a number of new features, including Instagram group video, more privacy and anti-bullying precautions, language translation for Messenger and—perhaps most buzzed-about—a new online dating service.
We asked eight speakers from this year’s Social Shake-Up to give us their take on what’s coming next from Facebook from the point of view of social media marketers and communicators—and as Facebook users themselves.
Language Translation in Facebook Messenger
“Translation brings international and cross-language trade, conversation and coordination to the app which opens doors for Facebook to become a cross-border e-commerce, gaming, travel and, now, dating platform with global advertising potential.” —Grant Simmons, VP of search marketing, Homes.com
“Facebook gets a bad reputation among marketers due to their spray-and-pray marketing messaging, which inherently diminishes the unique values of each user. Translated content in Messenger [means] users’ values are reflected by the most foundational geographic and cultural characteristics. Now, marketers have no excuse as to why they aren’t catering geographic and cultural messaging to each user.” —Jon Chang, digital marketing director, Kickstarter
“Taking care of the translation hurdle eliminates friction and hopefully turns [a prospect] into a customer quicker.” —Holli Beckman, VP marketing and leasing operations, WC Smith
Instagram Video Chat
“I am excited to see how the Instagram video chat will impact businesses. My guess is that users will start spending even more time in their stories and DMs, and that will make our stories have a bigger reach.” —Manu Muraro, founder, Your Social Team
Clear History (the Ability to Clear Cookies and Browsing History)
“When I think about ‘Clear History,’ I like it as a Larry David movie, not as Facebook functionality. It’s funny! And pretty, pretty good. I also like being able to delete all data Facebook has collected from me on sites and apps that use its ads and analytics tool.” —Lauren de la Fuente, VP, marketing and communications, Boingo Wireless
“The internet is the world’s largest focus group. Social media’s true value lies in data and targeting capabilities. Personalized data allows marketers to test imagery, messaging, landing pages and other variables by displaying them to targeted groups and measuring feedback. Users will get a less personalized version of Facebook; marketers may have access to less demographic data that typically informs messaging.” —Kelly Stone, global director of social media, CompTIA
Cyberbullying
“I’m glad to see Facebook doing more to combat cyberbullying. It’s a huge issue; as communicators working with companies, consumers and parents, it is important to make sure as we add technology, we’re still protecting consumers and kids. So this will be a good thing for all involved.” —Ellen Sirull, senior marketing manager, content, Experian
Expanded Placements (Messenger, Instagram Video Chat, Oculus, VR memories)
“Facebook marketers obsess over being part of the news feed, but Facebook has offered multiple placements to reach users. Messenger alone is a key example, let alone Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, et al. The addition of content types per placement is an ideal opportunity to finally get Facebook marketers out of the ‘only news feed mentality.'” —Jon Chang, digital marketing director, Kickstarter
Follow Jon: @Changahroo
Follow Grant: @simmonet
Follow Holli: @Apartmentalist
Follow Manu: @manumuraro
Follow Lauren: @laurendela
Follow Kelly: @kellyculinarian
Follow Ellen: @ellenlynn
Follow Sophie: @SophieMaerowitz
