Facebook is overhauling Messenger and its main platform in supposed privacy revamp
FACEBOOK HAS PREDICTABLY extolled the virtues of privacy at its F8 2019 willy-waving showcase, with founder Mark Zuckerberg touting that “the future is private”.
Given the Cambridge Analytica scandal last year and other data privacy gaffes Facebook has been involved in, it’s no surprise it wants to get deep into privacy.
But saying it is one thing, doing is another; and Facebook has been saying a lot lately. Now it looks like Zuck and pals are putting their money where their mouths are and are looking to serve up privacy and user-centric features, rather than an all manner of stuff based on erroneous likes and the, er, like.
Massaging MessengerFor a start, messages sent through Facebook’s Messenger service will get slathered with end-to-end encryption by default, much like Facebook-owned WhatsApp.
Messenger is also being redesigned to make it “faster and lighter”, and it will get more options for easily sharing content and watching videos in real-time with friends.
It will also come with a Close Friends feature that’ll allow users to set status messages and share stuff with their inner circles rather than that weird person they accepted a friend request from but forgot about years later only to have Hatchet Harry like each and every one of their posts.
Desktop Messenger apps for macOS and Windows 10 will also be made available later on in the year.
Instagram is getting the same dose of pseudo holistic community vibes. Facebook is planning to hide the number of likes a post garners from its users – people will still be able to count up the number of likes they’ve had manually – with the idea of encouraging people to share posts rather than get in a tizzy over how much ‘engagement’ (bleugh) they’ve had.
