Well, not exactly. The popular social media site Facebook will just be given some major changes in the coming years, according to co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. You may have heard in the news about how other popular smartphone applications, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, have been bought by Facebook. What these apps do that’s different than Facebook is take only parts of the experience, whether it be photos or messages, and put them in a single app that is much more streamlined, sleek, and innovative. This is the idea behind the Facebook facelift.
“Now, on mobile phones especially, Facebook will begin to splinter into many smaller, more narrowly focused services, some of which won’t even carry Facebook’s branding, and may not require a Facebook account to use (NY Times)”.
An example of the new multi-app system is the Messenger app, which is only a messaging application. The one app does a single feature of the full Facebook app. So, the new plan will create many apps that you will need to download, which will all focus on a certain function of the larger Facebook application. In fact, last week, Facebook began notifying users that it would soon require the Messenger app to send Facebook messages from smartphones.
The plan will be a huge change to the Facebook experience, and there’s a risk that Facebook users will not like the new multi-app system. Signs that the plan may backfire include the Facebook application Paper that lets users navigate Facebook’s News Feed through touch gestures. Despite amazing reviews, the application has not gained the user base that was expected. However, the strategy could be a big success, as the separate apps will create more simple and quick applications focused on one social media experience. This will create more room for innovation and creativity for the Facebook team.