In case you missed it, the annual Facebook F8 Developer Conference took place last week, During this eventful presentation, we learned of the tech giant’s ambition to become a more privacy-oriented platform. The social media giant announced new features that aim to achieve this objective, one of which is introducing its own cryptocurrency.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook
Following Zuckerberg’s statement, other executives at the social media giant also demonstrated how the organisation focuses on better marketplace tools. They highlighted improvements in the checkout process for Instagram’s digital mall.
There will also be new exciting developments for WhatsApp ahead. Business owners will be able to sell goods and services on the messaging platform, through WhatsApp Pay. As of now, this feature is tested on the Indian market. 80% of small businesses in India there already use WhatsApp for this purpose. The service will expand internationally, however, Facebook did not disclose where exactly.
Facebook wants to be your digital pocket-book
So far, it looks like Facebook joined a race to become the next preferred payment method along with Apple’s new credit card. Contrary to common beliefs, the platform is not based on blockchain yet. However, to date, it is focused on peer-to-peer transactions. Payments processing third parties are a possibility late on.
It’s not unforeseeable that Facebook’s digital money would be integrated into Facebook Ads as well. Supposedly, it is a topic of debate, at Facebook. This would work in two ways. First, merchants pay for ads with the digital coin. Second, end-users get rewarded in these coins when viewing and interacting with the ads. This idea is similar to the ‘Brave browser’, that rewards users with tokens for clicking on ads. The principle itself seems quite promising, as ads profit end-users as well as the companies behind.
Facebook’s move deeper into trade and finance coincides with the start of their so-called privacy-first era. This represents the company’s efforts to regain public trust towards Facebook and show they take privacy seriously. Moreover, Facebook wants to prove they are more than capable of handling our trade and finances. By doing this, it aims to keep its users tightly integrated into its platform. One key factor in the success of this plan is how the public views Facebook. Public trust in the social media firm has declined following the recent scandals. It remains to be seen if their efforts with improving privacy will be successful in convincing the public that they are trustworthy enough to handle their money.
