- Facebook's annual F8 conference, which kicks off Tuesday, 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 data 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 said.
- Others are more optimistic and want to see how they can work with the new tech Facebook is likely to unveil.
On Tuesday, Facebook will kick 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 after months of bad press and executive apologies, this year's F8 conference is expected to be a more serious affair than usual. Amid sweeping changes to how apps can interact with Facebook's platform, the mood among developers ranges 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, a managing director of the investment bank Needham & Company, said in an email.
One disgruntled developer put it more bluntly: "They're declaring war on their partners."
Cambridge Analytica's isn't causing problems for just Facebook
The Cambridge Analytica scandal, sparked last month by news reports that the political-research firm misappropriated millions of users' data, soon morphed into a full-blown panic over data privacy that sent CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Congress. It's 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 several changes to the platform, including new privacy controls for users, limits on how developers can access and use users' data, and, perhaps most significantly for developers, a moratorium on approving new apps for the social network or Messenger bots for the messaging platform.
For startups that rely on Facebook, it could be a major setback — and it highlights the vulnerability of some companies to Facebook's actions.
Andrew Magliozzi, the CEO of AdmitHub, a startup that builds chatbots for universities and colleges to provide information to students, called the moratorium "terribly unfortunate."
AdmitHub has several schools in the pipeline, each requiring a new version of the bot tailored to the institution. But until Facebook's pause on approvals is lifted, there is little Magliozzi can do.
Of the F8 conference, Magliozzi said, "I have no idea what to expect."
"Quite honestly, it's kind of a black box at this point," he said, adding that 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 that partners with Facebook Messenger accused Facebook of punishing the entire developer community for the actions of Cambridge Analytica.
"They're declaring war on developers, and we've done nothing wrong," he said.
The executive, who asked to remain anonymous, likened Facebook's actions to God retroactively changing the Ten Commandments.
"There could be a lot of unhappy developers next week throwing tomatoes at Mr. Zuckerberg," he said.
It's not all doom and gloom
Other developers — particularly those less directly affected by Facebook's changes — are more optimistic, focusing more on the tech Facebook is expected to announce.
Auston Bunsen, a lead for Facebook's "Developer Circle" in Miami, said that because of 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," Bunsen said, "but me and other friends who have been using it to find customers automatically are now cut off."
But he didn't predict any tomato-throwing at the F8 conference and expressed confidence that Facebook would be able to push through the crisis.
"The mood will probably be good — they always have great breakouts and cool technology launching," Bunsen said. "I'm sure they'll put extra effort in to combat the negative press they've received lately."
Alexandru Iliescu, CEO of the language-learning app Mondly, said his startup had not been significantly affected by the changes, adding 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 Iliescu.)
In a blog post published earlier this month, Matt Smith, a cofounder of the marketing platform Later, said the changes would have only a "minimal impact" on his company's offering.
Later supports the changes, viewing them as a "good move" for keeping users safe and secure, the post said.
'These changes can be disruptive'
Facebook's vice president of product partnerships, Ime Archibong, acknowledged the disruption of the changes but praised developers for adapting to them.
"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," Archibong told Business Insider in an emailed statement.
"These changes can be disruptive," he added. "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 first-quarter financial results that surpassed analysts' expectations. The F8 conference will provide another opportunity for the company to reset the narrative.
But developers' recent experiences show that Facebook doesn't have to show just its users that it's owning up to its mistakes and moving forward — it needs to convince the developer community too.
