Social media giant, Facebook.com, announced yesterday that it’s opening its facial recognition features for all users. The opening of the new feature deems the end of the classic “tag suggestions” option of the site.
The face recognition of Fb has an option for users to disable and enable, according to their statement. “Tag suggestions” gave Facebook.com users the power to choose, if FB can suggest if their friends can tag them in photos.
However, face recognition isn’t a brand-new thing for social networking sites. FB has already had this feature in its privacy settings since 2017.
The new update will only add additional functions. Such as alerting the user if their photos or profile photo are being used by someone else.
If an FB user decides to disable the said feature, the account will automatically generate “tag suggestions”. Despite the buzzing news about its announcement yesterday, FB’s face recognition has been at the centre of a privacy-related issue and lawsuit in 2015.
A Problem for Influencers
Aside from the facial recognition tech, another thing that the company is considering right now is hiding the “Like” count for each FB post. This suggestion is much like past experiments and trials of Instagram in several countries.
By hiding the said count, Facebook.com users will be able to focus more on the content of the post instead of the number of reactions. The idea of removing the “like” count may be trouble for some social media personalities and influencers. Many make a living on the platform.
Aside from Facebook.com and Instagram, another social media site has already tried to experiment with hiding the number. According to previous records, Twitter has also dipped into the possibility of restricting users from viewing the number of “likes” and “retweets.”
Based on the results of Twitter’s experimentation, people tend to interact or engage less with tweets after finding out that they cannot view the count.
While the “Like” feature has been a staple in the social media ecosystem, people are now complaining more and more about it.
Some users are saying that the number of “likes” to affect their self-esteem and confidence. People are fearing of posting something and not getting “likes”, a form of peer pressure according to critics.
If this experiment goes well for the company and the result shows more engagement, the platform could potentially push it through. However, if the result shows less interaction, Facebook.com may keep it for the sake of those who demand it.
FB Posers
Another concern by FB users is the fake accounts that have been multiplying in the social media platform. Just recently, the US Homeland Security Services reversed a policy that restricts officers from making a fake social media profile.
According to reports, the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services use the accounts to monitor people who enter and leave the country. On a bold move, Facebook.com has warned the Fed. They said that they are not above the rules to be excluded from the site’s security policies.
Sarah Pollack, the FB Spokesperson, cleared the policy saying that Law enforcers should also use their real identity. Experts now assume that the rule will also apply to Instagram, another site owned by FB.
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