Facebook had invited several press members to its headquarters in Palo Alto where the company expect to announce "something." The company live streamed the entire event via its Livestream account - Facebook Innovations.
Maybe today's announcement wasn't quite what we were looking for but according to TechCrunch, this was only the first phase of Facebook's lockdown and the redesign is on its way.
Regardless, Facebook announced three new features that will dramatically alter the way we interact on Facebook including an overhaul of its Groups feature, a new dashboard for apps management and a new "Download Your Information" feature.
Download Your Information
"Groups" overhauled
Under Facebook's "Groups" overhaul, users will now be able to add other users to Facebook Groups just like they would if they were tagging a friend in a photo. Zuckerberg noted that users do not want to create lists of friends to add to their Facebook Groups. So instead of one user creating a group and then picking who is allowed into the group, groups will now create social groups.
According to Justin Shaffer, product manager, groups will also have access to group chat, group doc editing and other Facebook apps.
Connected Apps Dashboard
Tools I've mentioned in the past like HootSuite - which allows users to manage Facebook accounts - and BannerSnack - which allows users to log in using a Facebook account - use Facebook apps to serve their purpose.
Now, Facebook has created a dashboard to help users manage the apps they connect to and even restrict the amount of time those apps can access your Facebook account.
As Zuckerberg pointed out, users control the information they put into Facebook but there has never been any real way to pull something out of the social network...until now.
"Download Your Information" will be a key addition to Facebook users who want to take information from their Facebook profile and add it to a profile on another social platform. Now users will be able to download all forms of Facebook data into a .zip file. This marks a much more "open" path for Facebook in that users can now leave Facebook and take their entire past (as appears on Facebook) with them.
According to a post on TechCrunch, yesterday, Facebook may announce a redesign of their website today at its headquarters in Palo Alto, CA. The rumor spreads only a two months after the company went into a state of "lockdown." According to TechCrunch's sources this is a tactic CEO Mark Zuckerberg uses to get the staff ready to work 24/7. Something "The Social Network" calls "wired-in."
Posted 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 6
Facebook may announce redesign as soon as today
According to TechCrunch, some users are already reporting a new version of Chat appearing in their browsers with larger avatars than the current design. Other rumored changes include redesigned app icons which might be moved directly under the profile image. Read more about the changes here.
More is expected to be announced or at the very least mentioned today including the possibility of an official Facebook iPad app, Places improvements and a possible mention of the mythical Facebook Phone.
