Mark Zuckerberg today unveiled, perhaps the biggest redesign of the social network he founded over a decade back. Facebook, at its F8 Developer conference today, announced some major reshuffling of the app and has put Groups into focus.
It has been like a writing on the wall for quite some time now. Facebook has been experimenting with making Groups a priority, for close to two years now. Users have started moving out of the platform, for the very reason that their news feed has ceased to be of much relevance. And despite Facebook’s continued tweaks and algorithmic changes to the feed, there hasn’t been much change in user perception. With this fresh release though, this could well change.
Moving towards a ‘Groups’ focused approach translates into the social network looking to make things more personal and worthy for users. This new app design now highlights to users the activity in each of the groups and shows personalised feed of these activities in a special tab. Facebook is also making it easier to get relevant group recommendations elsewhere in the app like in Marketplace, Today In, the Gaming tab, and Facebook Watch. You may see more content from your groups in News Feed. And, you will be able to share content directly to your groups from News Feed, the same way you do with friends and family.
There are also a slew community specific features that Facebook is bringing in. Through new Health Support groups, members can post questions and share information without their name appearing on a post. Job groups will have a new template for employers to post openings, and easier ways for job seekers to message the employer and apply directly through Facebook. Gaming groups will get a new chat feature so members can create threads for different topics within the group. And because we know people use Facebook Live to sell things in Buy and Sell groups, we’re exploring ways to let buyers easily ask questions and place orders without leaving the live broadcast.
Additionally, people will soon be able to ship Marketplace items anywhere in the continental US and pay for their purchases directly on Facebook. For sellers this means reaching more buyers and getting paid securely, and for buyers this means shopping more items — near or far.
Lastly, the new design will also see a new Events tab. The tab will let you see what’s happening around you, get recommendations, discover local businesses, and coordinate with friends to make plans to get together.
