Facebook is registering never seen before numbers due to coronavirus. And even though average revenue per user isn’t proportional to the rise in user numbers, the company very much wants more users to stay on the platform, likely as future growth prospects. And considering this is a time when numbers on the Facebook platform are at peak, this seems like an opportune time to test some new features.
Based on what the eagle-eyed reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong uncovered, Facebook is testing two big feature upgrades. Both however, as has been the case previously, are borrowed from other social media platforms. First up is a Twitter-like ‘People Are Talking About’ tab within groups, while the second one allows users to apply for jobs in a much detailed fashion.
The desire to interact has increased with lockdowns setting up in most of the world. With this, the participation in Facebook Groups has increased exponentially, and people are interacting with each other more than ever before. This has probably outed some of the issues with the current “Groups tab” on the app, as the company is planning to bring out an update to the same. The feed will be organised in a “tabbed” fashion, if this feature makes it to the platform.
Jane tweeted, “Facebook is working on “People Are Talking About” section and tabbed feed of different sort orders for Groups”
As the tweet suggest, Facebook is also bringing a “People Are Talking About” section to its Groups feed, under which the company will most likely show topics that are currently “hot” in a group. However, nothing has been ascertained as of yet.
Secondly, she pulled the wraps from a future feature that might allow users to apply for jobs straight through the app. Facebook has been quietly working in the background, allowing pages to post jobs. There has been a slow but steady accumulation of such job applications on the platform. But unlike LinkedIn, the company hasn’t really played around much with Jobs, resulting in poor quality leads. This new feature could well be to capitalise on that market.
In the tweet, Jane said “Facebook is working on Job Application Questions”. The screenshot that she generated from the code of the app, showed an area for something that resembles a job application, where users could apply for a position in the company straight through the app.
The image had multiple questions for job seekers, including “When are you available to start?”, “What certifications,licenses or training do you have?” and “What is the best way to contact you?” There is also an ability for employers to add additional custom questions if needed.
This won’t ofcourse be the first time Facebook is looking towards other social media networks to borrow features for one of its owned platforms. The uber popular stories on Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook come directly from Snapchat. And despite being borrowed, it is Facebook that has been able to create a mass level euphoria about it.
