By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

FACEBOOK USERS will see more products being introduced to their feeds in the following years, as it plots the use of artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in the social network’s 10-year road map.

With a community of more than two billion people over the globe, Facebook is making sure it is at the forefront of technological developments that will connect more people in the future. Facebook Philippines Country Head John Rubio said the networking giant is currently studying how new technologies can be integrated with the social media platform.

“We’re really excited about continuing our connectivity push because we will not stop until every single person on the planet is connected and can connect to their friends and family, engage in businesses that are important to them,” Mr. Rubio said during a roundtable discussion in Taguig City on Wednesday.

For the first half of the 10-year road map, the emphasis will be on other products offered by Facebook. Mr. Rubio said while Facebook and photo-sharing app Instagram have been their main ecosystems in the past three years, the push is now towards Messenger.

One of the changes users can see in the Messenger app is the introduction of ads in between message threads. Users can also pay for their purchases online through the app, as it can be directly linked to online payment platforms such as Voyager Innovations’ PayMaya and Globe Telecom, Inc.’s G-Cash.

An added feature on the Facebook app is Marketplace, which gives small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the chance to directly connect with their buyers through posting the products they sell on the app.

“The focus is creating more meaningful interactions,” Mr. Rubio said.

He cited a Facebook study that revealed about 70% of SMEs that use the platform to advertise their business increased their customer base, while another 80% were able to sell their products better.

Facebook also looks to boost connectivity through Workplace, a platform where users communicate via groups, and allowing them to use Facebook in a more corporate and professional environment.

The company is further propping up search, groups, and video features within Facebook, while encouraging people to use them more.

Five years into the road map, Facebook will then focus on improving connectivity. The company targets to introduce AI, in a bid to be more inclusive towards people with disabilities.

“AI, very important for us from two perspectives, is another future push to enable, for example people with disabilities, sight or hearing impaired, we can help you. And also with AI, it will help facilitate things like ensuring accuracy on the network with more machine learning basis,” Mr. Rubio explained.

Next would be the introduction of VR/AR features, which the company believes to be instrumental in building more connections in the future.

“Because of how when we look at the current offline and online platform that we have, we want to make sure that when there is a virtual reality world that we have a platform to engage people and businesses in the future… It’s going to be part of the platforms for the future, and we want to make sure that we are well-placed there,” Mr. Rubio said.

Asked if the addition of these products and services would overwhelm Facebook, Mr. Rubio said the company will always focus on value so that the experience would be seamless for users.

“We really care about driving impact and customer value. So if we feel that it’s something that drives value to a customer, it’s something that a company or an SME feels that they can leverage, we feel that it becomes almost seamless in how people interact with our platform,” Mr. Rubio said.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR