Social Throwback: Facebook 2019 - Year in a glance

As a part of our recap series, Social Throwback we take a look at Facebook Updates 2019 - all the changes to algorithms, ad formats, and content & hate speech policy encapsulated below.

Be it popularizing 10-seconds videos with Thumbstoppers to bringing an official agency on board - it has been a busy year for Facebook. Another milestone for Facebook was in February 2019, when it turned 15-year-old and reached a high point in terms of DAUs. Facebook Updates 2019 are many and diverse.

“We're still in the early stages of this transformation and in many ways, it is just getting started. But if the last 15 years were about people building these new networks and starting to see their impact, then the next 15 years will be about people using their power to remake society in ways that have the potential to be profoundly positive for decades to come,” Zuckerberg shared.

While 2018 was the year to invest and crack on the ‘fake accounts’ & misinformation, 2019 was the time when the platform forayed into future with algorithm changes and various feature-updates and introduction to new tools.

Here’s a glance through the year that went by and the changes that Facebook rolled out. A look at Facebook Updates 2019.

2019 at a glance!

January 2019

January 2019 began with some crucial launches and announcements.

• Facebook launches Facebook Community Actions, allowing users to initiate petitions and notify local officials, in January 2019.
• Dentsu Aegis Network India announced as an official Facebook Marketing Partner (Ad-Tech).

February 2019

Happy Birthday, Facebook!

• February 2019 witnessed the brand completing 15-years of its existence with 2.7 billion users on the platform.

• Facebook, CFO, David Wehner announced the launch of the clear history feature.

March 2019

• Enter March 2019 and Facebook redesigned Pages with a neater look comprising two columns instead of three.

April 2019

• April 2019 ushered the users with Mark Zuckerberg announcing the introduction of the news tab including the business model and ecosystem to support it.
• Facebook tested a new UI, wherein Stories and Posts were fused into one feed, where instead of scrolling the users would swipe through the posts with 'swipeable feeds' on the platform.

• The platform launched three new features: 3D Photos in Stories, 3D Photos Creation on the Web & 3D Photos Creation on Android to grow the product.

May 2019

This month introduced users to a series of ranking updates & algorithm changes on Facebook.

• The platform updated video ranking to prioritize original Facebook videos that people seek out and aimed to help the video creators.
• Facebook India launched the Thumbstoppers in partnership with creative agencies with the aim to redefine short-form mobile video creativity in the country.

• Facebook updated its algorithm to give users their time's worth. It focussed on two major changes prioritizing which friends one might want to hear from the most and the links users might consider the most worthwhile.
• The end of this month saw the brand roll-out out ‘Why Am I Seeing This Post’ in the three-dot menu.

June 2019

The mid-of-the-year witnessed the extension of algorithm changes and censorship of content on the Facebook site.

• Facebook extended the algorithm changes and surveys to predict and prioritize Facebook Pages and Groups the users most care about.
• Foraying the path towards content censorship, Facebook built an independent oversight board to handle appeals subjecting to what content stays on the platform and what doesn’t.

July 2019

This month took the technology a notch-higher for the platform with the introduction of digital currency and monetization avenues.

• Facebook introduced additional monetization avenues for creators who share original content for their business.
• The second half of the month saw the announcement of the launch of a new digital currency- Libra. This digital wallet is expected to come into being by 2020.

August 2019

Facebook announced new tools, features, and some restrictions too

• Facebook opened the Instagram AR Filter tool for users that allowed them to enhance the effect-building tool.
• The platform launched two new ad solutions – Movie Reminder Ads and Movie Showtime Ads, to aid movie marketers and help people find the movies they like.

• Facebook declared Housing, Employment and Credit would be categorized under Special Ad Categories with restricted targeting options.
• The last few days of August'19 brought new changes by Facebook with the launch of a new Instagram messaging app- 'Threads'. The platform brought forth a dedicated option for 'close friends' making Instagram more flexible for sharing moments with a smaller group.

September 2019

This month was the time for updates, more new tools, and others

• Facebook introduced new tools – Lead Generation, Appointment Booking for brands and developers on the platform.
• Facebook dating apps came into being in September'19 to build deeper connections.

• Facebook made changes to marketplaces and expanded its news tab to 6000 cities across the U.S.
• September'19 also got the users grooving as Facebook and Instagram launched Music Products in India. The users could now add music stickers, Lyrics on Instagram, Lip Sync Live, and songs to their Facebook Profiles.

• More updates follow in the month with providing access to more tools to the public figures on Facebook.
• A new world of VR was introduced to the users on social media with the launch of Facebook VR Horizon.
• Hiding 'Like' counts?- the platform announced hiding the Like counts starting with Australia.

October 2019

• Facebook Messenger gets new features – Private Replies, app link Support and more.
• The platform introduced new tools to aid small businesses and help them manage things effectively.
• Facebook tested ads in the Groups tab & Search Results in October 2019.

November 2019

The penultimate month to the year brought a new logo for Facebook and other updates.

• Facebook launched a new corporate logo for the brand this month.
• Leveraging meme-culture, the platform launched Whale – a meme making app. The new launch helped the users use their own images or images from the stock photo library.
• With the aim of making the platform safer, Facebook introduced the brand safety tools.

December 2019

The last month of 2019 unveiled 'the Playbook', new tools, and a scandal to end the year.

• Facebook released a new tool to transfer Facebook photos to other services, starting with Google Photos.
• The social media channel expanded the enforcement that imposed target restrictions across all the tools businesses used to buy ads. Hence, broadening the targeting restrictions Civil Rights Audit.
• Facebook introduced reporting tools to improve campaign measurement.
• The platform unveiled 'The Playbook' for Building Brands in 2020 and Beyond.
• The year ended for the giant with a scandal! This controversy comprised personal data of more than 267 million users being leaked online.

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