Facebook, the social media giant is adding three features in a new update that it believes will facilitate users “create and save memories.” The update will add features such as allowing users to create a cloud backup whereby photos and videos could be directly saved from the users’ account, sharing of voice messages with friends, and archive any Facebook Stories shared. The new features will first be available in India and will spread throughout the entire globe “shortly thereafter.”
Additionally, Facebook is bringing changes to its in-app Facebook Camera as users will be able to save their images and videos on the app itself instead of their gallery. This feature has been introduced to allow users to save local internal memory on their phones, especially those with entry-level devices equipped with limited storage. The feature will therefore allow users to click more photos without having to delete their previous ones. Photos and videos saved to Facebook Camera will only be available to the user once logged on the social media platform. Friends will only be able to see the photos saved when posted on the platform. However, Facebook did not mention whether or not there will be a limited storage capacity to its cloud service.
Facebook is also rolling out an Audio option in its Facebook Camera that will allow voice messages to be shared as Voice Stories. The goal of voice recordings is to allow fast and intimate sharing of thoughts and opinions, while also allowing those struggling with written proficiency to communicate with their friends and relatives effectively.
Finally, Facebook users will also be given the possibility to archive their stories similarly to Instagram, on the Facebook Stories. Therefore, friends will have the chance to enjoy a users’ story for longer than a day.
Should we trust the new features?
The features are quite interesting and will most probably meet a huge success, especially saving photos on the Facebook cloud. However, users have to be aware that while saving their photos and videos on the Facebook Camera, users will also give access to their personal photos to Facebook for ad-targeting.
Since Facebook is currently struggling with several data privacy issues, we would recommend users to use these new features responsibly to safeguard your private information.