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The 3 most important things Facebook just announced at F8

Published Mar 25th, 2015 3:12PM EDT
Facebook F8 News FB Messenger

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Facebook kicked off its big F8 developer conference on Wednesday and it made some key announcements that give us some big clues about where the company is headed. Below we’ve recapped the three most important things Facebook announced at F8 this week.

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  • Third-party developers can make FB Messenger apps. This is the really big one. While Facebook has never shown any inclination to make its own mobile computing platform, it has found ways to create its own unique space in the mobile world thanks to its vaunted lineup of social apps that includes Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. Now Facebook is opening up FB Messenger to third-party developers in a move the company says will let developers offer “even more ways for the 600 million people who use Messenger every month to express themselves.”
  • On This Day, a new way to look at all your best memories. This feature will give you a page every day that will bring up photos that were taken on the same day in years past. To access this page, Facebook says you “can click on the On This Day bookmark, search for “On This Day,” or visit facebook.com/onthisday.”
  • Finally! Embeddable video! Those of us who like posting videos on our websites have been wanting this for a long time. Facebook is now finally offering HTML code for videos uploaded to the social network that will make embedding them onto webpages a snap.
Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.