friend you? i hardly know you
Facebook reportedly close to launching a standalone app for anonymous users
In a distinct break from the model that made it so famous, Facebook is working on a standalone app for anonymous users, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The new app is expected in the coming weeks and will create a space for users to interact without using their real names.
The app is a departure from Facebook's original appeal of being a "way to establish your online identity, and to map out the connections you have to other friends and family," wrote the Times' Mike Isaac. The social network is instead hedging toward the likes of Reddit and Whisper, two domains that allow users to use pseudonyms or be completely anonymous, respectively.
The app's development is reportedly being helmed by Josh Miller, a product manager at Facebook, and has apparently been in the works for the last year. Read more at The New York Times.