At Facebook’s F8 developer conference that opened Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg admitted to a painfully obvious fact: lots of people around the world mistrust Facebook, and Facebook has given them lots of reasons to do so.

“I know we don't exactly have the strongest reputation on privacy right now, to put it lightly," said Zuckerberg. "I am committed to doing this well."

This act of contrition set the stage for Facebook’s solution to the unending wave of controversy continuing to bash its brands. Facebook from now on says it will be guided in its actions by a new mantra: “The Future is Private.”

Facebook claims the way to attain this mantra is for it to work harder to let people connect with close family and friends and those they love.

Facebook announced updates to Facebook Messenger and Facebook’s core service during F8. It also announced a makeover to Instagram.

The “new” Facebook will see a de-emphasis of the much-maligned News Feed, and the ascendancy of an update called “FB5.”

FB5 will highlight groups and events. It will allow users to create prominent group tabs and a personalized feed from the groups a user joins instead of having a generalized update feed from friends. Group interaction options will show up while a user is browsing other parts of Facebook.

FB5 is also supposed to help people expand their social circles. It has a new feature called Meet New Friends that connects strangers with something in common. It also has an easier way to find nearby events. Android and iOS apps will get this update right away. The desktop app will be revamped in the coming months.

Facebook is also reshaping Facebook Messenger to better keep up with friends. You can set status messages and share photos with people you like and trust.

Messenger will also get a big do over. On iOS, it’s being redesigned to occupy less space on a phone. The new version will be under 30MB, or 20 percent smaller than its current size.

Then there’s Facebook Dating. Facebook introduced a dating service in 2018 and it hasn't taken off. At F8, Facebook announced it is expanding Dating to 14 more countries.

It also revealed a new feature called “Secret Crush,” and it does exactly what people think it does. It allows a user to create a secret list of Facebook friends he’s attracted to, whether or not they have a dating profile.

If this person is also using Secret Crush, and she adds you to her list, Facebook will notify the two of you that there’s a match.

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A picture shows logos of US online social media and social networking service Facebook. LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images
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