Facebook to be mostly video in five years: Zuckerberg
08 Nov 2014
Facebook users would see a lot more video feed in five years than what they get at present.
''In five years, most of [Facebook] will be video,'' CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday during the company's first community town hall, in which he interacted with the public on a range of topics.
His response came to a question about whether the growing number of photos uploaded to Facebook was burdening its infrastructure. He said the social network's data centers have it had the capacity. The real challenge was improving the infrastructure to allow for more rich media like video in users' feeds.
He answered questions from a group of users who had been invited at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. People also submitted questions online.
One most-asked questions was why Facebook had forced users to download its Messenger app for mobile.
Zuckerburg admitted that the change had not pleased everyone.
''Asking everyone in our community to install another app is a big ask,'' he said. But Facebook thought it could provide a better, faster messaging product if it split it off from its own app.
''We really believe this is a better experience,'' Zuckerberg said.
Meanwhile, Facebook was stepping up its efforts to contribute in the fight against Ebola, adding a button designed to make it easier for users to donate to charities battling the disease.
The social media company was also donating and deploying 100 satellite communication terminals to boost internet and phone services to affected areas in West Africa, where the toll from the disease had reached 5,000, AP reported.
The programs come after Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan donated $25 million last month by to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention toward the Ebola response.
According to Facebook, its users would see an option to donate to three non-profits fighting Ebola.
The groups are the International Medical Corps, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Save the Children. Facebook said it chose charities that worked directly on the ground and were able to accept money globally.
The terminals would provide internet and voice-calling access to remote areas of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone so that medical aid workers could access voice and data services. The devices would also help people with Ebola who had been placed in isolation, communicate with their families.
