Facebook has been signalling a pivot to privacy for months, but on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg slammed the reset button in a thoughtfulIn essence, Zuckerberg sets out a plan to split Facebook in two. To use his analogies, he wants to create:, where people can talk to many people at once. Think the Facebook Newsfeed, groups, Instagram posts, and Stories.— a closed-off space where people can interact privately, using messaging with end-to-end encryption.
Building and decorating the digital living room is one of Zuckerberg's big priorities over the coming years, and it is why his blog provided the clearest articulation yet of why he wants to combine the back ends of WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct Messaging. He explained: "You can imagine many simple experiences like this -- a person discovers a business on Instagram and easily transitions to their preferred messaging app for secure payments and customer support; another person wants to catch up with a friend and can send them a message that goes to their preferred app without having to think about where that person prefers to be reached; or you simply post a story from your day across both Facebook and Instagram and can get all the replies from your...
But it will come at a cost. End-to-end encryption — along with other plans to give people more control over their data such as a clear history tool and disappearing posts — will make it harder for Facebook to gather the user information on which its business model relies. The company made $55.8 billion in revenue in 2018, the bulk of which came from advertising.
Long overdue. Facebook looks like the dashboard of a Spaceship.