Some developers are furious ahead of Facebook's annual conference: 'They're declaring war on their partners'
- Facebook's annual F8 conference is supposed to be a celebration, but the company could be in for a rough reception this year from some angry developers.
- In response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook locked down its platform and paused all new app and chatbot approvals.
- "There could be a lot of unhappy developers next week throwing tomatoes at Mr. Zuckerberg," one developer remarked.
- Others are more optimistic, and want to see how they can work with the new tech Facebook is likely to unveil.
On Tuesday, Facebook is kicking off its keynote event of the year: F8, an extravagant two-day conference dedicated to showcasing new products, interacting with developers and generally celebrating all things Facebook.
But following months of bad press and executive apologies, this year's F8 is expected to be a more serious affair than usual. Following sweeping changes made to how apps can interact with its platform, the mood among developers is varied - from optimistic about potential announcements to verging on apocalyptic.
"I think new data privacy restrictions and how it impacts them is a key concern for developers," Laura Martin, managing director of investment bank Needham & Company said in an email.
Or as one disgruntled developer put it more bluntly: "They're declaring war on their partners."
Cambridge Analytica's isn't just causing problems for Facebook
The Cambridge Analytica scandal, which began with reports of the political research firm misappropriating 87 million users' data but soon morphed into a fullblown panic over data privacy that sent CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Congress, is arguably the worst crisis in Facebook's 13-year history.
Zuckerberg and other executives have gone on an apology tour, promising to take a "broader view of our responsibilities," and making a number of changes to the platform. These including new privacy controls for users, limiting how developers can access and use users' data, and - perhaps most significantly for developers - imposing a moratorium on approving any new apps for the social network or any Messenger bots for the messaging platform.
For startups that rely on Facebook as an integral part of their business, this can be a major setback - and highlights just how vulnerable some businesses are to the company's actions.
Andrew Magliozzi, CEO of AdmitHub, a startup that builds chatbots for universities and colleges to provide information for their students, called the moratorium "terribly unfortunate."
"I have no idea what to expect," the exec said of F8. "Quite honestly it's kind of a black box at this point ... [it] could be everything from a wholesale restructuring and abolishing of the bot ecosystem ... [to] a return to the status quo."
Another executive at a company in the Facebook Messenger partner ecosystem, expressed frustration that the entire developer community was being punished for the actions of Cambridge Analytica. "They're declaring war on developers and we've done nothing wrong," he said.
The developer, who asked to remain anonymous, compared Facebook's actions that of God changing the "Ten Commandments" retroactively.
He added: "There could be a lot of unhappy developers next week throwing tomatoes at Mr. Zuckerberg."
It's not all doom and gloom
Auston Bunsen, who is a lead for Facebook's "Developer Circle" in Miami, Florida, said due to the changes "it's definitely been a bit of a pain to use FB APIs, particularly [Instagram] APIs since the CA scandal. I understand it, but me and other friends who have been using it to find customers automatically are now cut off."
But he wasn't predicting any tomato-throwing at F8, and was confident Facebook would be able to push through the crisis: "The mood will probably be good, they always have great breakouts & cool technology launching. I'm sure they'll put extra effort in to combat the negative press they've received lately."
Alexandru Ilescu, CEO of language-learning app Mondly, said his startup had not been significantly affected by the changes - and that he was excited to learn more about Facebook's augmented reality efforts and how Mondly could work with them. (Facebook put Business Insider in touch with Ilescu.)
In a blog post published April 8, marketing platform Later cofounder Matt Smith, said the changes will only have a "minimal" impact on his company's offering, and that his company supports the changes, viewing them as a "good move" for keeping users safe and secure.
'These changes can be disruptive'
Facebook's vice president of product partnerships, Ime Archibong, acknowledged the "disruption" but praised developers in adapting to these changes.
"We'll always make the important platform changes, trying to strike the right balance between creating compelling social experiences, protecting people's data, and supporting an innovative developer ecosystem. These changes can be disruptive," he told Business Insider in an emailed statement provided by the company.
"But Facebook developers are incredible partners and help us ensure the platform enables experiences that are both social and safe. This F8, it's important to bring our global community together to navigate these changes and explore new ways we can build community."
Facebook recently got some much-needed good news in the form of Q1 financial results that surpassed analysts' expectations, and F8 will provide another opportunity for the company to reset the narrative.
But the experiences of developers in recent weeks demonstrates that that Facebook doesn't just have to show its ordinary users it is owning up to its mistakes and moving forward: It needs to convince the developer community too.