Companies often like to quietly release experimental products without fanfare or prior notice. However, Facebook is trying a different tactic. The company is going out of its way to set "appropriate expectations" for a number of prototype apps that'll be arriving in the coming weeks.
The products will arrive under the developer name "NPE Team, from Facebook," which stands for New Product Experimentation. "Unlike Facebook's family of apps, NPE Team apps will change very rapidly and will be shut down if we learn that they're not useful to people. We expect many failures," the company said in a blog post.
The apps will also arrive as the public's trust in Facebook remains low on the company's various privacy scandals. According to one survey, 80 percent of Americans have "privacy concerns" about how the social network has been using their personal data.
The concerns may end up stopping many users from trying out new products from Facebook. However, the company is trying to reassure the public that the experimental apps will be safe to use. "At Facebook, we're committed to giving people control over their personal data and to protecting privacy across our family of apps, including future apps from NPE Team," the company said in its blog post.
All the apps will follow Facebook's existing data policy, in addition to "supplemental terms" posted by the NPE team. In other words, you can expect a great deal of data collection to take place. But Facebook is promising to make it clear how the personal data will be used.
The experimental apps will be arriving on Apple's App Store, the Google Play Store and on the web. Expect them to focus on supplying "new experiences for building community," the company said.
"This is a way for Facebook to develop new types of experiences for people and to try different ideas by creating small, focused apps in order to see whether people find certain features useful or engaging," the social network added. "We may use what we learn to help inform our thinking and product strategy moving forward."
Not all the apps may be widely available to the public. Some may also not rely on a login with Facebook.