The year 2020 is anticipated to be an interesting year for Facebook. Political ads, recurring data privacy issues, and scrutiny from the regulatory bodies – the social media network will continue to face all.
However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also plans to shift his focus from all the criticism he is addressed to and integrate several new innovations to his brainchild. For starters, we can expect to see ‘FB5,’ the fifth redesign of Facebook rollout fully in a couple of months. Libra, the cryptocurrency project by Facebook is also launching in the summers of 2020 while advancements in augmented and virtual reality to keep FB’s operations seamless is also under development.
As we said before, the first year of the new decade will be an interesting one and we have all the news. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 8 Facebook trends to watch out for in 2020.
Support for the group will also be introduced with the new layout. For example, members of Health-related groups will be able to ask sensitive information anonymously while Gaming groups would allow threads for different topics.
During their annual F8 developer’s conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced a desktop app for Messenger. According to news sources, the app will function just like the mobile app and will include group video calls among other integrations.
Facebook-owned Instagram is also planning to test Direct Messages on its web-based app.
As of yet, it is too early to say whether the upcoming trend to hide the like counter will work for the leading social media platforms. However, influencers and marketers are apprehensive about the tactic and only time will tell how it affects their engagement.
AR Shopping is also becoming popular with MAC Cosmetics leveraging to its maximum potential by allowing visitors to ‘virtually’ try on the lipstick shades before making a purchase.
In the year 2020, the trend will continue to develop and platforms businesses and marketers will employ more chatbots to decrease the manual work.
Since users will now have more control of the data they share with Facebook, there would be less information available to the marketers for targeting.
Facebook is facing severe scrutiny over political ads and content shared by the candidates. While several other tech companies have announced a ban of political ads, Mark Zuckerberg says that he will continue to show the election-related content in lieu of democracy.
However, they have provided more controls for the political pages and ads. Facebook also claims to enhance its fact-checking policy for transparency.
Unfortunately, major U.S. payment gateways such as PayPal, Visa, MasterCard and Stripe have dropped out of the Libra project. Critics believe that Facebook does not have a solid plan for the launch of Libra.
All we can do is wait and see if the global cryptocurrency project along with the other Facebook trends mentioned in this article falls through successfully or not!
Read next: 16 Percent of All Active Facebook Accounts Are Fake and Duplicates
However, CEO Mark Zuckerberg also plans to shift his focus from all the criticism he is addressed to and integrate several new innovations to his brainchild. For starters, we can expect to see ‘FB5,’ the fifth redesign of Facebook rollout fully in a couple of months. Libra, the cryptocurrency project by Facebook is also launching in the summers of 2020 while advancements in augmented and virtual reality to keep FB’s operations seamless is also under development.
As we said before, the first year of the new decade will be an interesting one and we have all the news. So without further ado, let’s take a look at the top 8 Facebook trends to watch out for in 2020.
1. More focus on private channels
During the F8 developer’s conference last year, Mark Zuckerberg emphasized the need to prioritize ‘private channels’ such as Instagram, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook Groups. He said that in the next five years, we can expect digital interactions to evolve significantly and thus, securing private interactions and building smaller communities becomes apparent.2. Groups in the center
The fifth redesign of Facebook is ready to roll out and as per the showcasing of FB5, the Facebook Groups will be at the core center of the platform. This will make it easier for the users to access and find the groups of their preference. It will also feature a personalized feed so group members can be more updated with its activity.Support for the group will also be introduced with the new layout. For example, members of Health-related groups will be able to ask sensitive information anonymously while Gaming groups would allow threads for different topics.
3. Pivot to desktop
While mobile remains the most-used medium for apps like Messenger, Facebook plans to revive the era of desktop as well.During their annual F8 developer’s conference, Mark Zuckerberg announced a desktop app for Messenger. According to news sources, the app will function just like the mobile app and will include group video calls among other integrations.
Facebook-owned Instagram is also planning to test Direct Messages on its web-based app.
4. No more likes?
Last year, Facebook confirmed that it would test hiding the like counter in Australia. Instagram also followed the protocol and gradually started to conceal the number of likes on member’s posts.As of yet, it is too early to say whether the upcoming trend to hide the like counter will work for the leading social media platforms. However, influencers and marketers are apprehensive about the tactic and only time will tell how it affects their engagement.
5. Ads via AR and VR
Facebook is working on innovative ways to allow advertisers to integrate AR and VR in their posting. Since September 2019, it enabled the Spark AR Studios that allowed advertisers to create and publish their own AR effects.AR Shopping is also becoming popular with MAC Cosmetics leveraging to its maximum potential by allowing visitors to ‘virtually’ try on the lipstick shades before making a purchase.
6. Continuous rise of chatbots
Facebook claims to have over 100,000 chatbots providing consumer service on Messenger. These bots are not only capable of answering basic queries but can also offer automated interactions to increase sales.In the year 2020, the trend will continue to develop and platforms businesses and marketers will employ more chatbots to decrease the manual work.
7. Ad-targeting
After the implementation of GDPR, Facebook and other tech giants were forced to make changes to its ad-targeting policy. Media also played a pivotal role in creating awareness and led many users to opt-out of letting Facebook use their data for ad-targeting.Since users will now have more control of the data they share with Facebook, there would be less information available to the marketers for targeting.
Facebook is facing severe scrutiny over political ads and content shared by the candidates. While several other tech companies have announced a ban of political ads, Mark Zuckerberg says that he will continue to show the election-related content in lieu of democracy.
However, they have provided more controls for the political pages and ads. Facebook also claims to enhance its fact-checking policy for transparency.
8. Launch of Libra
Rumors surrounding Libra, Facebook’s cryptocurrency project has been making the news for some months. If development continues seamlessly, Facebook will launch the digital wallet for its cryptocurrency by the summer. The same will be available with Messenger, Whatsapp and as a standalone app.Unfortunately, major U.S. payment gateways such as PayPal, Visa, MasterCard and Stripe have dropped out of the Libra project. Critics believe that Facebook does not have a solid plan for the launch of Libra.
All we can do is wait and see if the global cryptocurrency project along with the other Facebook trends mentioned in this article falls through successfully or not!
Read next: 16 Percent of All Active Facebook Accounts Are Fake and Duplicates
