Instagram可能推出“真实朋友”共享应用程序

一个新的应用程序可能允许 Instagram 用户给他们最亲密的朋友分享实时信息，据《Verge》周一报道，该应用名为”Threads”，允许用户与最亲密的Instagram好友自动共享位置、移动和电池续航时间等信息，以及使用Instagram工具生成的文本、视频和照片消息。

Instagram发言人德维·纳拉西姆汉告诉TechNewsWorld，该公司对线程没有评论。

一旦你选择激活线程，它会自动提醒你的Instagram”亲密的朋友”列表中的人关于你的位置，移动和更多信息，Verge指出。目前，该应用程序只显示通用位置信息（如”移动中”），但将来可能会发生变化。总部位于纽约牡蛎湾的技术咨询公司ABI Research首席分析师Michael Inouye表示：”Facebook在共享位置等信息时必须走一条细线，即使这些数据只有亲密的朋友才能看到。。一方面，如果位置信息含糊不清，如'约翰在场'，而不是'约翰在杂货店'，或者更具体地说'约翰在 Safeway'，Facebook可以避免潜在的隐私问题，他告诉TechNewsWorld。‘‘但如果信息过于笼统，那么就会失去价值，Inouye继续说道，说某人”在行动”不会向对方传达太多信息，如果认为信息不够有价值，用户可能会失去兴趣。

模糊更亮的一面

不过，保持位置信息模糊是积极的一面。Inouye 解释道：如果这类信息变得具体而详细，那么用户就有可能陷入谎言和欺骗。例如，用户可能会告诉朋友他病得太重，不能出去玩，但如果他的位置更新显示他正在听音乐会，那么这可能会导致一些问题。一个简单的“在场”信息可能会导致类似的问题，但一个人假装生病可以声称是在填补处方。Inouye说：最终，Facebook正在采取正确的方法，随着时间的推移，随着用户越来越习惯于共享这种类型的近实时信息，他们可以使更具体的细节得以被推送。

线程共享可能并非它唯一的问题。

俄勒冈州本德的咨询服务公司恩德尔集团首席分析师Rob Enderle表示：”在社交应用程序日益充斥的市场上，这意味着另一方面。他告诉TechNewsWorld：”消费者正变得不堪重负，因为他们必须管理大量的社交媒体应用程序。

从错误中吸取教训

据《Verge》报道，消息传递是”线程”的核心，其外观与 Instagram 中已有的消息传递产品类似。中央源显示来自好友的消息。名称中绿点的好友当前处于活动状态。用户可以从线程内部查看好友”故事”的更新，照片和视频也可以在应用程序内捕获，并发送给朋友。Verge指出目前还不清楚Facebook何时或是否会发布这个程序。Facebook 今年春天关闭了Direct相机的应用程序， 它被用于发送 Instagram 直接消息。它反映了 Instagram 竞争对手 Snapchat 中的功能。然而，Direct 是一个独立的程序，它惹恼了不想继续弹跳和退出 Instagram 从而使用 Direct 的用户。

ABI的伊努耶说，线程似乎正在解决直接的主要问题。”线程听起来像是将其所有功能都应用到一个应用程序中，”他观察道。Inouye 解释道：”对于这些社交网络应用程序来说，易用性至关重要，因为许多人整天经常使用这些服务，因此效率低下的现象更加突出。他补充说，线程应该为Instagram用户提供更多的实时沟通和分享机会。一个知道你在午餐时间”在移动”的朋友可以问你是否想聚在一起吃点东西。同时，这些信息可以与可能有兴趣在午餐约会中感兴趣的其他人共享。”它有可能提供更好的接触与实际的朋友，”Enderle补充说。

‘‘真正的”朋友

Inouye 认为， Facebook 需要继续使用线程等程序进行创新。”这样的测试和更新对于保持Facebook在市场上的领导地位至关重要，”他说。”Facebook 还需要这样的应用，以帮助将差距与未来的使用案例缩小，这些用例将变得更加依赖于实时信息，包括动态广告还是增强现实。Enderle建议，Facebook需要像线程这样的东西来保持领先于竞争对手。”他们在参与度上落后于Snapchat，他们不希望另一家公司在社交媒体的主导地位上取得进步，”他说。根据 Enderle 的说法， Snapchat 用户在这个社区有 ‘‘真正的” 朋友， 这就是为什么那里有更多的参与度。”这就是Facebook试图修复的线程，但他们仍然不明白，这种使用是由必须通过营销改变的行为定义的，”他补充说。”Facebook 不做营销， 所以这种努力能否成功是值得怀疑的。

谨慎的注释

英国布朗伯勒的在线隐私咨询公司的数据隐私倡导者阿提拉·托马舍克提醒说，如果Facebook真的推出”线程”，人们应该在使用之前暂停。他告诉TechNewsWorld：”我们已经每天与Facebook以及Instagram和Twitter分享大量信息。Tomaschek指出：”即使我们认为我们只是使用这些工具在线与朋友和熟人共享信息，所有这些数据都通过公司的服务器进行泵送和处理，而且可能不像我们希望的那么私密。‘‘使用 Facebook 线程，除了我们通常分享的评论、照片和视频外，我们现在还能够在线与他人共享位置、速度、电池续航时间等信息。”‘‘我们应该问自己的问题是：'为什么？托马斯切克继续说。”现实情况是，Facebook 已经掌握着更多有关其用户的信息，而不是首先应该与服务共享的信息。共享任何其他信息（如位置、速度和电池寿命）是完全不必要的，为用户带来便利的同时，只会对用户造成更多的伤害。

A new application may be in the works that allows Instagram users to share real-time information with their closest friends.Called ‘‘Threads,” the app allows users to set up automatic sharing with their closest Instagram buddies of such information as location, movement and battery life, as well as text, video and photo messages generated using Instagram's tools, The Verge reported Monday.

Instagram spokesperson Devi Narasimhan told TechNewsWorld the company had no comment about Threads.

Once you choose to activate Threads, it will automatically alert people on your Instagram ‘‘close friends” list about your location, movements and more, The Verge noted. At the moment, the app displays only generic location information -- such as ‘‘on the move” -- but that could change in the future.

‘‘Facebook has to walk a thin line when it comes to sharing information like location, even if this data is only seen by close friends,” said Michael Inouye, principal analyst at ABI Research, a technology advisory company headquartered in Oyster Bay, New York.

‘‘On the one hand, Facebook can avoid potential issues if the location information is ambiguous like 'John is on the go' versus 'John is at the grocery store' or even more specifically 'John is at Safeway,”’ he told TechNewsWorld.

‘‘But if the information is too generic, then it loses value,” Inouye continued. ‘‘Saying someone is 'on the go' doesn't convey much information to the other side and if it isn't deemed valuable enough, then users might lose interest.”

Brighter Side of Vague

There's a positive side, though, to keeping location information vague.

‘‘If this type of information becomes specific and detailed, then you run into the potential for users to be caught in lies and deception,” Inouye explained.

For example, a user might tell friends he's too sick to hang out but if his location updates reveal he's at a concert, then it could cause some problems.

A simple ‘‘on the go” message could cause similar issues, but a person feigning illness could claim to be ‘‘on the go” to fill a prescription.

‘‘Ultimately Facebook is taking the right approach to start more generic and over time, as users get more accustomed to sharing this type of near real-time information, they could enable more specific details down the road,” Inouye said.

What Threads shares may not be its only problem.

‘‘It is yet one more thing in a market increasingly awash with too many social networking apps,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Oregon.

‘‘Consumers are becoming overwhelmed with the number of social media apps they have to manage,” he told TechNewsWorld.

Learning From Mistakes

Messaging is at the core of Threads, which looks similar to the messaging product already in Instagram, The Verge reported. A central feed displays messages from friends. Buddies with a green dot by their name are currently active.

Updates to friends' ‘‘stories” can be viewed from inside Threads. Photos and videos can be captured inside the app, too, and sent to friends.

It's unclear when -- or if -- Facebook will release the app, The Verge noted.

Facebook this spring shut down Direct, a camera-first messaging app used to send Instagram direct messages. It mirrored functionality found in Instagram competitor Snapchat. Direct, however, was a standalone program, which annoyed users who didn't want to keep bouncing in and out of Instagram to use Direct.

Threads appears to be tackling Direct's primary problem, ABI's Inouye said.

‘‘Threads sounds like it's bringing all of its features under one application,” he observed.

‘‘Ease of use is paramount for these social networking applications because many individuals use these services quite often throughout the day so inefficiencies are accentuated,” Inouye explained.

Threads should provide Instagram users with more opportunities for real-time communication and sharing, he added.

A friend who knows you're ‘‘on the move” during lunchtime can ask if you'd like to get together for a bite to eat. Meanwhile, that information can be shared with others who also might be interested in a lunch date.

‘‘It can potentially provide better engagement with actual friends,” Enderle added.

'Real' Friends

Facebook needs to continue to innovate with programs like Threads, Inouye maintained.

‘‘Tests and updates such as these are essential to maintain Facebook's leadership in the market,” he said. ‘‘Facebook also needs apps like this to help bridge the divide to future use cases that will become far more reliant on real-time information, be it for dynamic advertising or augmented reality.”

Facebook needs something like Threads to stay ahead of its competitors, suggested Enderle.

‘‘They are lagging Snapchat on engagement, and they don't want another company to make inroads on their social media dominance,” he said.

Snapchat users have ‘‘real” friends in that community, which is why there is more engagement there, according to Enderle.

‘‘That's what Facebook is attempting to fix with Threads, but they still don't get that this use is defined by behavior that must be changed through marketing,” he added. ‘‘Facebook doesn't do marketing so it is doubtful this effort will be successful.”

A Cautious Note

If Facebook does roll out Threads, people should pause before using it, cautioned Attila Tomaschek, a data privacy advocate at ProPrivacy, an online privacy advisory firm in Bromborough, UK.

‘‘We already share hoards of information with Facebook, as well as Instagram and Twitter, on a daily basis,” he told TechNewsWorld.

‘‘Even if we think we are only sharing information with our friends and acquaintances online using these tools, all of that data is being pumped through and processed by the firm's servers, and may not be as private as we hope,” Tomaschek noted.

‘‘Using Facebook Threads, we are now able to share information like our location, speed, battery life with others online in addition to the comments, photos and videos we already typically share,” he observed.

‘‘The question we should be asking ourselves is: 'Why?”’ Tomaschek continued. ‘‘The reality of the situation is that Facebook already holds more information about its users than should be shared with the service in the first place. Sharing any additional information -- such as location, speed and battery life -- is completely unnecessary and can only do more harm to the user than good.”