Facebook will bring back F8 as a pared-back, single-day, virtual-only conference for developers on June 2
After ultimately cancelling its F8 developer conference over Covid concerns last year, Facebook has announced a return of the event in a virtual-only format it is calling F8 Refresh.
The company said that it will be holding it as a one-day event on June 2. You can sign up for F8 Refresh here.
Although F8 has grown in size over the years, attracting 5,000 people and more to its in-person events, the social network will be taking a more modest approach in 2021.
With no Mark Zuckerberg address this year, Facebook will have Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, VP of Platform Partnerships, delivering the opening presentation at the event, replacing words from its founder and CEO.
The event, which will serve as a platform for updates on new launches, gave more time in the past for developers, partners and other attendees to clear their calendars.
“F8 has always brought together an incredible community of people who are building, innovating, and looking for what’s next. And over the last year, our community of developers enabled growth for businesses of all sizes to adapt to a changing world and accelerate their digital transformation,” noted Papamiltiadis in a blog post. “In recognition of this, we want to bring F8 back to its roots: a place to celebrate, inspire and help developers grow.”
Rather than big launches and major announcements, it looks like Facebook will keep the F8 focus more on its ecosystem and the developers in it.
The big question now will be how Facebook plans to tackle growth in developing markets, its response to newly rising apps like Clubhouse, how it might diversify its business model beyond advertising, and how it will tackle misuse on its platform.
