New features on Facebook – how to use them in business?

Facebook is trying to keep up with users' changing preferences.

The platform is in the news almost non-stop – every day it surprises us with something new meant to make it easier and more interesting to use. To that end it changes its look, buys other companies and tests all sorts of features. A lot is simply going on, which is why it pays to keep an eye on the trade press and on our blog if you want to keep up.

What has Facebook been testing lately?

The Instant Videos feature

Watching videos somewhere with no wi-fi? Nothing is impossible for Facebook. How is it meant to work? While we're connected to the internet, Instant Video saves videos so it can hold on to them for the moment wi-fi is no longer available. The idea is that you can watch clips without burning through the mobile data on your phone. Right now the feature is being tested on a small group of users, but the plan is to bring it to everyone – it will certainly keep followers on the platform for as long as possible and push the reach of uploaded videos even higher.

An app called Bonfire

Facebook keeps betting on video, which is why another app is in testing – Bonfire, built to let you run a video call with several people at once. Its rollout is limited for now, available only to iOS users in Denmark. Interestingly, during a call participants can use the face filters everybody loves, much like the ones on Instagram and Facebook Stories. On top of that, Bonfire has an option to take screenshots and share them on the platform. How do you promote a brand this way? It's worth using the app to back up your customer service team by answering fans' questions – if the app ever opens that feature up to fan pages. Until it does, we can turn to influencers or brand ambassadors, who can talk to users from their private accounts.

Colored comments

For a good while now Facebook has let you write a post on your own wall and give it a colored background. Facebook then had the idea of testing the feature in comments as well.

The feature is visible to a selected group of users and works only in the mobile version. Why comments on a colored background? Being able to add them isn't just one more bit of variety shipped with an app update – it's also meant to make it easier to signal that you want to buy or sell a particular item. They're easy to use as an effective way of getting users involved, too: run a vote with them instead of asking people to click the standard reactions. Those votes can cover all sorts of subjects, which makes finding out what your followers think of your brand child's play, so they're worth using on a company profile.

Facebook as Tinder?

So what does the Tinder-like feature Facebook is currently testing look like? Users get a prompt: “Do you want to meet up this week?”. You can answer yes or no by clicking “yes” or “no” respectively. Our answer isn't shown to the other person until they answer too. Only when both sides pick “yes” does a conversation open in Messenger. The point of the option is to let users with similar interests meet up in future. For now, tests of the new feature are limited to Toronto (Canada) and selected parts of New Zealand. On the face of it the feature looks like Tinder, but you can use it the way you would use LinkedIn, to build business relationships.