[Software] Facebook will hold its developer conference again this year, but only virtual

[SougarLord]

 

Facebook announced yesterday that it will once again hold its annual F8 developer conference this year, which it canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic and fear of possible infections. The event, which will only last one day, will take place on June 2 and will be exclusively virtual.

 

The conference will not feature a speech from its co-founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, as is usual, although it is not ruled out that the manager may make some kind of appearance.

 

The intention of the company is to "recognize" the work of the Facebook community, which in the last year "allowed the growth of companies of all sizes to adapt to a changed world and accelerate their digital transformation," according to Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, vice president of platform associations, who will be in charge of the opening of the event, which this year will be called F8 Refresh, and will host the novelties developed by the company for its different services, as well as technical sessions, demonstrations and panels.

 

Both Facebook and Google canceled their respective developer conferences (F8 and I / O, respectively) last year because of the coronavirus. Apple was the only one that went ahead with theirs, albeit in virtual format. For now, only the social network, which usually brings together more than 5,000 developers in its conference, has confirmed the celebration of its event this year. What is still unknown is what issues the company will address.

 

As TechCrunch points out, the issues on the table are whether or not it will launch a response to emerging voice apps like Clubhouse, how it plans to diversify its business beyond advertising, and where its Diem cryptocurrency and digital wallet are at. I did not see. It is also possible that new tools will be revealed to prevent the misuse of the social network, which will be reproached for not doing enough to avoid hateful content and false information.

 

The conference will also be the first to be held by Facebook after it received lawsuits in the US at the end of last year by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the attorneys general of 46 states and two US territories. UU for alleged anti-competitive practices.