Facebook introduced the Save for Later function almost four years ago, and it allowed users to store articles, videos and other content found on the social network in a dedicated section. To access the saved content, users had to tap on the More button and scroll down the list that pops up.
However, despite its obscurity compared to the social network's more popular features, Save for Later is said to have monthly users of 250 million. That surprising number may have been what pushed Facebook to expand the feature to other websites aside from its own.
At the annual F8 developer conference, Facebook has introduced a new Save to Facebook button which can be added by publishers to their online content. Users that tap the button will have the article or video saved on the social network, through which they can access the content at a later time.
The formatting and advertisements included in the saved content on Facebook will not be removed, which gives publishers an incentive to add the Save to Facebook button on their websites. This is different to what similar services such as Pocket does, as the formatting and advertisements of content saved through Pocket are removed.
In addition, for those that use the feature on content that have Instant Articles versions on the social network, users will be directed to the fast-loading versions on Facebook once they try to access them.
"At relevant times, we'll also remind people about their saved things - like when a product goes on sale, or if they've saved an article they haven't read yet," wrote Facebook.
Once the feature is widespread, it will place Facebook in competition with Pinterest, which allows users to save online content in graphics-loaded boards that can be shared with other users. While Pinterest has been serving users for years, it seems to be headed for a head-on collision with the social network over Save to Facebook.
Upon the launch of the new feature, it will be available on the websites of Product Hunt and Overstock, with more online publishers expected to adopt Save to Facebook soon. As these companies are always looking for more views of their content, adding the feature while maintaining their hold on potential advertising revenue looks like a winning situation for them.
In the ongoing F8 developers conference, Facebook also announced that artificial intelligence-powered chatbots are coming to Messenger to help users with tasks such as online shopping and making reservations.
