Facebook says that users' private chats will soon be encrypted. This will prevent the leak of personal information even if attackers intercept the correspondence. After all, with such protection, neither hackers nor special services will be able to crack it. Mark Zuckerberg said that the changes will affect not only Facebook, but also Instagram.
Social networks versus messengers
Most of our communication now comes down to chats on social networks. With their help, we connect with family and friends, solve work issues and share inspiration. Zuckerberg, who created the world's largest social network, has convinced billions of people that sharing personal information online can be safe and fun. However, according to the latest trends, people are less likely to leave comments and upload photos and more and more often prefer to communicate in private chats. Mark Zuckerberg noted this trend and wrote a post: "Facebook users want to communicate in the digital equivalent of the living room, not in the city square of the Internet."
Recently, experts have noted that social media activity is not growing as previously thought. Facebook never got a single worthy competitor - it still holds the leading position in terms of the number of active users. However, people are increasingly starting to use instant messengers like WhatsApp and WeChat, which allow you to communicate in private chats.
Having noticed this trend, market leaders are looking to do everything in their power to stay afloat. Google+, the social network of the world's largest search engine, goes offline. Twitter also does not stand still: the developers have already changed the design, and are also expanding the functionality.
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Trust issues
Facebook is notorious for its constant identity leaks. This social network has been suspected of conspiracy theories, according to which the company helps the US government to collect information on millions of users. In mid-March, investigations were published, according to which Cambridge Analytica "stole" the personal data of approximately 50 million users in order to sell them targeted ads with a political bias. This means that Facebook is trying to influence the opinion and worldview of people through advertising.
In addition, it seems that people in general are starting to get frustrated with social media. They share less and less details of their personal life, as they are afraid to seem unsuccessful. The “Ideal Life” that many are showing on Instagram and Facebook is forcing users to increasingly uninstall these apps. “Nobody else writes about anything ineffective in public,” said Antonio Martinez, a former social media manager.
The future of the company
Experts suggest that people's interest in Facebook will start to decline in the next few years. Zuckerberg himself admits this, saying: "In a few years, Messenger and WhatsApp will become the main ways people communicate on the Internet." Now the company's developers are focusing on the development of Facebook Messenger - an application for smartphones and tablets that allows you to exchange instant messages, videos and photos. In fact, it is analogous to WhatsApp, but so far the data is not protected by encryption, which automatically puts many users at risk.
“We are dedicated to making the application faster, easier and more secure. Then we plan to add more ways to connect face-to-face with friends, groups and colleagues,”Zuckerberg said. Why are messengers so attracted to people? They give a sense of privacy, they are easier to use and people feel more secure in them. They really are like a cozy living room where everyone can discuss what's important to them without fear of being overheard.
Other changes
What else is the company working on? At the moment, the developers are working to unify the various platforms. They want to ensure that people can use their Facebook account to send messages to someone on Whatsapp. At the moment, this kind of data exchange is of concern to some people, as the privacy of users is in question.
Ashkan Soltani, a former chief technologist at the Federal Trade Commission, said Facebook could be the first company to offer such extensive cross-platform communication capabilities.
Other changes concern the storage time of information. For example, WhatsApp already has “disappearing messages”, which are erased as soon as users read them. Perhaps this option will appear in Messenger soon.
Outcome
Zuckerberg says he describes all the changes ahead of time so that people can imagine what the future holds. He also added that the company will definitely consult with experts and government officials in order to minimize possible harm. Since Facebook is by far the largest social network, one cannot underestimate the extent of its influence on the world community.
Natalia Tikhomirova