Facebook is now rolling out a bunch of new features for Indian users which will eventually arrive stateside shortly thereafter.
Voice Posts
First up are Voice Posts, which lets users share voice messages. It comes as Facebook's attempt to search for more efficient ways to express oneself, as voice recordings can seem more intimate than plain text and emoji, not to mention they're more indicative of a person's actual emotions when expressing thoughts.
Voice Posts also get around the need to install specialized native-language keyboards, and they don't require written proficiency in a language people can more easily speak than write.
Cloud Storage
Second is a new cloud storage option for photos. Facebook's in-app camera now presents a new option to save photos or videos directly to one's account to save local memory on entry-level devices with very limited on-board storage. Especially in developing countries, storage space is a luxury most people can't afford. This could help users who, as Facebook discovered, often delete photos just to make space for new ones. Photos and videos saved on Facebook will only be visible to the user. It's not clear how much content one can upload, though.
Archiving Stories
Third is the ability to save Stories. Facebook says it will start rolling out an archive feature so users can get a hold of their most valuable Stories shared on the platform. The feature, which is similar to Instagram's Archive option, lets users save clips privately even after they expire, where they can be shared again to the News Feed.
"We know that the performance and reliability of viewing and posting Stories is extremely important to people around the world, especially those with slower connections," said Facebook Stories director Connor Hayes, as TechCrunch reports. "We are always working on ways to improve the experience of viewing Stories on all types of connections, and have been investing here — especially on our FB Lite app."
Facebook Data Scandal
Facebook has been dealing with a massive data privacy crisis of late, particularly the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where Facebook knew but didn't tell its users that a seemingly benign quiz app had surreptitiously collected data from millions upon millions of Facebook accounts. The fiasco may have caused irreparable damage to the company's reputation, and features like the cloud storage that's mentioned above — which requires people to store their personal content on Facebook's own servers — immediately raise questions about safeguarding data and account privacy.
