“Facebook is like a fridge, you keep checking it but there is nothing good.”
Facebook, the social media giant which has been around for quite a while now and has presently amassed unparalleled audience has always been questioned as to what the policies of the company are and what the company aims to achieve in the future. Every year technology critics try to evaluate what the next step of this company would be. In the following article we would be reviewing a few fields where we expect Facebook to venture in the next coming years.
Messaging
Last year’s acquisition of WhatsApp signaled that the company aims to travel in the direction of instant messaging. WhatsApp, which had a strong user base of 600 million active users was acquired by the social media giant for a hefty sum of $16 billion. The move was questioned by many but acquiring active users is never a bad thing.
Facebook also tried to acquire the popular application Snapchat which turned down Facebook’s offer for a sum of $3 billion. In order to retaliate from the rebuke, Facebook created an alternative to Snapchat by the name of Slingshot which allowed users to send temporary messages which vanished as soon as they are swiped. Facebook-created Slingshot did not gain any significant traction whereas, the application, Snapchat was recently valued at $10 billion.
Virtual reality
When the social media giant, Facebook, acquired virtual reality headset manufacturers, Oculus rift for a staggering sum of $2 billion, many people wondered the direction of the company. Many of the industry observers considered virtual reality headsets as a developmental thing. But Facebook’s bet was a game changer for virtual reality space. It legitimized the developments and made industrialists consider it a serious thing which was worth acknowledging.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO unveiled the company’s plan with Oculus. He said that the company has made a long term bet with this acquisition and they intend to see how the developmental community connects with it. With the annual Oculus conference it was clear that Facebook intended to bond strong ties with the developer community.
Drones for Internet access
If you thought the Oculus acquisition was weird, wait till you hear about the last acquisition which adds the factor of versatility to companies that have been acquired by Facebook this year. The company is Ascenta and it is a UK based solar-powered drone manufacturer. Facebook gave some ambitious plans that the company had in mind for Ascenta. A statement by Zuckerberg on Facebook said that Facebook acquired the company because they were responsible for manufacturing Zephyr, which is the longest flying solar-powered unmanned drone aircraft and these drone aircrafts are expected to aid in Facebook’s plans to expand internet connectivity to underprivileged areas of the world.
Conclusion
Of course after last year’s odd and unexpected acquisitions, it is not at all surprising to expect something big and totally unrelated from Facebook. However according to us we will see Facebook making some big hits utilizing the companies it has acquired this year. 2015 will probably be a year of experimentation on Facebook’s part.
“Some people need to realize that Facebook is a social network and not a diary.”
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