Facebook Launches New 'Prototypes' Section, Allows Users To Test Out Experimental Features
Facebook’s Aditya Agarwal explains that we can expect to see a variety of new apps under Prototypes, including Funny products (like Facebook’s Pirate language), and early versions of features they’re working on. He also said that we may see some features that might not appeal to everyone, but some users might enjoy. Among the prototypes presented were a new Photo Tag search, which allows users to search for photos by the people who are tagged in them. He also showed off a feature that lets you filter your News Feed by only displaying posts that have been commented on by your friends.
The Prototypes feature makes sense for Facebook, which routinely runs hackathons where its developers run wild and develop new projects, some of which are eventually deployed to all users (Facebook Videos was one such project). Facebook Prototypes will give developers a chance to share these projects with anyone who wants them, even if they aren’t quite ready for prime time.