Facebook is concentrating on emerging markets in a big way; so much so, that the social network is forcing Android phones on employees.
While the iPhone is popular in the US, emerging markets prefer Android. Facebook wants its employees to go through the same user experience as these markets. That way, they will be able to pick up on bugs faster, said Facebook chief product officer Chris Cox during a press conference last week.
The social network previously said most of its revenue - up to 75% - comes from markets outside of the US.
"We are constantly working to build ways for people to connect through Facebook regardless of connection speeds and device types. This also means helping marketers reach people in the best way, and that means creating solutions to make this possible in different environments," says Nunu Ntshingila, Facebook head of Africa.
Many of the new features, such as the video hub and shopping buttons, are tested on the iOS system and rolled out only to the US before going to Android and other regions.
Android phones are not standardised, like iPhones are. Android phones are made by different manufacturers and have varying sizes and systems. Facebook employees need to know how the social network looks and works on these different phones.
It is not known if all or some of Facebook employees will be forced to use Android.
2G Tuesdays
Last week, the social network said it would give employees the chance to once a week experience 2G Internet speeds, for an hour.
"People are coming online at a staggering rate in emerging markets and, in most cases, are doing so on mobile via 2G connections," says Facebook emerging market products manager, Chis Marra.
The aim of '2G Tuesdays' is similar to the push for Android, to help employees better understand the markets they are trying to reach, to see how the app works on a slower connection speed, and what can be done to improve the experience.
Last month, Facebook updated its News Feed feature so that content loads quickly, even with weak Internet connections.
On Friday, Facebook announced a new video advert solution for emerging markets. The lightweight solution is called Slideshow, and allows users to create adverts effortlessly and uses minimal data.
In South Africa, Facebook has grown its user base by 8% in the past year, from 12 million to 13 million, according to the SA Social Media Landscape Report 2015. Worldwide, there are 1.5 billion users.
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