A summary of f8

Facebook, as you have probably heard, is changing. It is changing almost everything, and releasing a ton of useful features. I will try to give you a full summary of f8 and of what has changed.

• The Ticker

This is an updated form of news feed, where realtime information about all of your friends activities comes straight into a 'ticker' (based on the stock exchange's tickers where you see realtime stock movements). Personally, I find this quite useful, though I know that many disagree, multiple hate groups having been set up, campaigning for the old Facebook.

• The Timeline

This is a big one. This is the source of all the buzz. Facebook have once again antagonised its users by invading their privacy and seem hell bent on keeping Timeline as it is. It's modelled on your 'life story'. You can see everything a user has done, or the major changes in his life. It has been described as a 'stalker's paradise' and it's hard to disagree. Also, another element that angers people is that you can now see who has unfriended you. Previously, unfriending was a quiet act, one that didn't appear in your news feed, not a public act, like becoming friends with someone. The buzz around Timeline is similar to that around News Feed, back in 2007. At first, people hated it, but they have grown used to it now.

•  Open Graph

This is by far the biggest change, though probably the least mentioned and the vaguest. It is a fundamental change to apps and the basic platform that the apps run on. It means that you can see what your friends are watching/playing easier, and then open that link without leaving Facebook. So you can click on a new music video by Ed Sheeran and listen to it without ever leaving facebook. This leads me neatly to my next point.

• Media

Facebook now does music, TV shows and movies. I has joined together with companies such as Spotify and Netflix to enable the user to watch the shows and stream the music without leaving Facebook. It is integrated with Open Graph.

• Lifestyle apps

This is much more straightforward and easy to explain. Facebook are creating a whole new class of app, which is much more fully integrated with your profile. The apps are much more similar to iPhone apps than to Farmworld and other games. Some of Facebook’s Lifestyle Apps partners include Nike, Foodspotting, Netflix, Rdio, Foodily, Spotify, Metacafe, FundRazr, Eventbrite, Ticketmaster and Airbnb.

I think that's all, but if I've forgotten something, feel free to let me know about it, and I'll correct it as soon as possible. Thanks for taking the time to read this article!