For the second year in a row I was invited alongside my co-founder and CEO Fabrizio Perrone to F8, the annual Facebook Developer Conference in San Jose, California. The event is a milestone for developers and businesses in the social media industry and it works like a sneak preview to the latest features developed in Menlo Park.
The buzz at F8 was as electric as ever and here are what I think are some of the most exciting things to come out of it and how they could impact influencer marketing in the coming months.
Spotify and GoPro integrations
The most relevant news in terms of content creation in the influencer marketing space are certainly the new Spotify and GoPro integrations. These have the potential to push the boundaries of content creation mixing different media and adding a new element of flair to existing Instagram stories. 🎶
Instagram Explore
Instagram has been updated with an improved version of its Explore section, sorted by topics, so that users can find content more quickly. New opportunities are coming thick and fast for brands and content creators, as usual the faster you can adapt to these changes the sooner you can start to take advantage of the updates and better connect with your audiences. 🔎
AR Camera Effects
Since AR has entered into the realms of Facebook, users have started to experiment with new effects on pictures and Instagram stories. Now content creators and brands will be able to use a wide range of camera effects on Messenger as well as to create customer experiences from simple masks to interactive games in order to encourage their customers to try, learn and customise products. 🤳
Upvotes & Downvotes
Facebook users have been asking for a thumbs down (👎) for ages, now something has finally arrived. The platform will be rolling out a new feature on certain posts in the next few weeks. Described as ‘downvote’ or ‘upvote’ buttons the premise is that they will be used to flag distasteful comments on Facebook posts and bring useful comments to the fore. It will be interesting to see how this will impact the conversations between creators, brands and audiences. For now, it sounds like good news for users that want to make their voice heard as Facebook passes the baton of flagging negative comments over to them.
Oculus Go
The new standalone VR headset doesn’t require a wire, PC or smartphone in order to work. It is being sold at an affordable price and has built-in audio drivers for a deeply immersive experience. All the attendees at this year’s F8 event will be given one, so stay tuned if you’d like to see how this “everyday” virtual reality experience can be used for influencer marketing! 😎
Facebook Dating
It is definitely too early to say whether Facebook’s new dating features will have the power to take on or displace Tinder as the leading online dating service, only time will tell. However, the potential is huge and may not bode well for dating platforms that skew a little older. Maybe not relevant for the influencer marketing space, but we thought you might be interested all the same. 😉