Facebook is Experimenting with Having an Open Camera at the Top of the News Feed – The Impact Could Be Profound

[By Scott Juba]

Facebook is rolling out a test in Brazil and Canada of having an open camera window atop the News Feed in the Facebook app.  When people in those countries open the Facebook app on their mobile device, they will see a prompt to use this new feature. Upon accepting it, their camera will always be open and ready to use at the top of the News Feed every time they open the app.

This new feature will integrate MSQRD’s animated selfie filters (Facebook acquired MSQRD in March).  Animated selfie filters add virtual animation to people’s photos and videos.  For example, the MSQRD filters’ object recognition technology can map virtual animation to the contours of a person’s face to incorporate fun effects such as face paint.

Being that Snapchat’s selfie lenses operate in the same way, many people will immediately focus on Facebook’s efforts to capitalize on the popularity of Snapchat. Facebook clearly wants to encourage more unique content creation among its users, especially considering that The Information reported original content sharing was down on Facebook from the previous year (as of February 2016).

If Facebook eventually rolls out the open camera feature to every Facebook app user, the effect on your company or organization could be profound. Facebook is, in essence, encouraging people to take pictures and video of everything they see – and share it.  This is not different from what Snapchat encourages users to do.  Here’s the real distinction.  Snapchat has 200 million active users.  Facebook has 1.59 billion active users.  The size of the audience with access to such a feature will be much larger on Facebook.  More than ever, what you and your employees do will be subject to being captured and shared with millions of people. Instantly.

How can your company prepare for this?

• First and foremost, your company should have a culture that encourages employees to operate in an ethical manner. Any form of communication is meaningless without compatible actions to support it. If you and your employees are treating your key stakeholders in the right way, more visual content sharing about your company on Facebook will likely benefit you.
• Even if you have a culture in place that values ethical business practices, no one is perfect. You and your employees and co-workers can make mistakes.  Others will capture those mistakes and post them online.
• You and your employees and co-workers will be more likely to be photographed and filmed outside of work as well. If one of your employees gets drunk in public or acts inappropriately in some way, there is an increased chance that it will instantly appear online. Actions that take place outside of the office can negatively impact your business.
• Ask yourself these questions:
  • How do we monitor social media mentions – are we sure we are catching all relevant content related to our company and employees?
  • When should we respond to an online threat?
  • Where should we respond to an online threat?

Just like having a traditional crisis communications plan in place for a variety of scenarios, having written standards of practice in place to guide your decision making when handling online threats is essential.  If you do not have such standards in place, now is the time to create them.  Otherwise, when an online threat arises, you won’t be ready.

Photo and video sharing online will only increase.  Your organization should expect to be in the public eye at all times.  Prepare now.

Scott Juba has been successfully negotiating the social media and digital landscape for years. He is the president of Radar Public Relations & Consulting and serves of counsel to Hennes Communications.