Posted inSocial Media

TikTok is scrapping its BeReal clone

TikTok is shutting down its BeReal clone, TikTok Now, according to messages sent to users. TikTok Now was launched over nine months ago, but it is unclear when the feature will disappear completely. The feature was introduced with the aim of promoting “authentic and spontaneous connections on TikTok,” but it was hard to ignore how […]

Posted inSocial Media

Record labels sues Twitter for copyright infringement

The American copyright organization National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) is now suing Twitter, alleging that the platform does not do enough to address the unauthorized sharing of music on its platform. NMPA represents a dozen record labels, including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, and Universal Music Publishing Group, and lists around 1,700 songs that […]

Posted inSocial Media

This is Instagrams Twitter Lookalike

This is how Meta’s and Instagram’s “answer to Twitter” could look like. The image is taken from an internal presentation of the app “Project 92,” which may have the public name “Threads,” according to The Verge. The app is intended to use users’ login and account information from Instagram. Meta’s Head of Product Development, Chris […]

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WhatsApp introduces Channels

Today, Meta’s messaging service, WhatsApp, launched a new feature called Channels, which allows businesses or others to broadcast messages to everyone who follows them. Those who manage WhatsApp channels can send text, images, videos, stickers, and polls to users who follow the channel. Users will not have the ability to respond to these messages, and […]

Posted inAI

TikTok is testing its own chatbot

TikTok has started testing an AI chatbot called Tako, which can recommend videos based on user inquiries. Tako can respond to various questions and will provide suggestions to help users initiate a conversation with the bot. Currently, the chatbot is being tested on a limited scale in the Philippines and is not available to users […]

Posted inSocial Media

YouTube bids farewell to YouTube Stories

Yesterday, YouTube announced that their feature YouTube Stories, which allowed users to create short video clips that disappeared after seven days, will soon be discontinued. YouTube Stories could only be created and viewed on mobile devices and was likely intended to compete with similar “Story features” on Instagram and Snapchat. In a blog post, YouTube […]

Posted inSocial Media

Meta sells Giphy to Shutterstock at a loss

Three years ago, Facebook acquired the GIF animation service Giphy, but now Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is compelled to sell the service. After the acquisition of Giphy, several competition authorities initiated investigations into the purchase, and the UK competition authority, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), determined that Meta’s ownership of Giphy was anti-competitive. The American […]

Posted inSocial Media

Meta is building a Twitter competitor

It seems that Meta is eager to start competing with Twitter, and now some more information has leaked about how that might happen. Lia Haberman, who writes the ICIMY newsletter, has obtained a leaked presentation slide showing what appears to be a Twitter-like service from Instagram. You can check out the leaked image above. Judging […]

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Meta receives record fine of 1.2 billion euros

Meta has now been fined 1.2 billion euros by the EU after transferring user data to data centers in the USA, reports Bloomberg. EU courts believe that such data transfers expose EU citizens to privacy breaches, a concern that has been raised since 2013 following revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden about US mass surveillance programs. […]

Posted inSocial Media

Bluesky Social: The Invite-Only Social Network Everyone’s Talking About

I recently received a beta invite to Bluesky Social, the new social network that’s making waves as a potential alternative to Twitter. I was excited to explore this invite-only platform that’s been gaining traction, especially with high-profile users like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Chrissy Teigen joining the platform. Bluesky is a decentralized social app, conceived by […]

Posted inSocial Media

WhatsApp gets a Wear OS app

WhatsApp has started testing a Wear OS 3 app for devices such as the Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 5. The app displays a list of recently used contacts, and after opening a conversation, you can scroll to see previous messages. You can reply by recording a voice message or opening the system keyboard. In […]

Posted inAI

Snapchat is testing sponsored links in My AI

Snapchat first launched its chatbot “My AI” as recently as February and has since rolled out the new AI feature, powered by ChatGPT, to all users. Now, the platform is taking another step towards a mature product as it starts experimenting with sponsored links in “My AI”. For example, My AI can suggest a local […]

Posted inSocial Media

Meta updates its avatars

Meta has updated the 3D avatars that can be used in their VR service Horizon Worlds, Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. The update means that users of Meta’s services will be able to change the body type of their 3D avatar, as you can see some examples above, as well as more options to choose different […]

Posted inSocial Media

Lemon8 Blends TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram Features: What Is It and How Does It Work?

TikTok has a lesser-known sibling app called Lemon8, developed by the same parent company, ByteDance. As the battle for social media dominance rages on, companies like Meta and ByteDance are creating multiple platforms to strengthen their position. Lemon8 emerged as a response to the potential ban of TikTok in the US and quickly gained fame. […]

Posted inSocial Media

TikTok to launch generative AI avatars

TikTok is working on a feature that can create AI-generated profile pictures for users. Like Prisma Labs’ Lensa app, the tool creates different AI-generated images of your face. Lensa was already a relatively popular app, but since this feature would be built directly into TikTok, it’s not entirely unlikely that we will see many more […]