📲 Why are Instagram searches for ‘Adam Driver Megalopolis’ blocked for CSAM?
#News #Insta

🔹 When people search for "Adam driver Megalopolis" on Instagram or Facebook right now, instead of seeing posts about Francis Ford Coppola's latest film, they're shown a warning, titled, "Child sexual abuse is illegal." That bizarre fact was pointed out in a post on X yesterday, and as of today, I'm still seeing it when I search for the phrase.

🔹 But why? Well, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with recent Threads moderation failures. Nor are there bombshell revelations about Megalopolis or its main star that I'm aware of.

🔹 Instead, Facebook and Instagram seem to be blocking searches containing "mega" and "drive" — I saw it when I searched with those two words together, but not when I searched for "Megalopolis," "Adam Driver," or either term mixed with any others. The issue isn't new, either, as this nine-month-old Reddit post about searching for "Sega mega drive" on Facebook illustrates. (That search seems to work as expected, now.)

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📲 Meta Experiments With Facial Recognition for Security Purposes
#News #Insta

🔹 Meta's testing a couple of new security processes that utilize facial recognition, which is an element that Meta's run into various troubles with in the past. First off, Meta's testing a new facial matching process to help identify "celeb-bait", which is where scammers use images of public figures in order to bait people into engaging with ads that then lead to scam websites. In this new process, Meta's matching the faces used in ads to high profile users, and where there's a match, confirming with the users' official profile as to whether it's a legitimate, endorsed promotion. As explained by Meta:

"If our systems suspect that an ad may be a scam that contains the image of a public figure at risk for celeb-bait, we will try to use facial recognition technology to compare faces in the ad to the public figure's Facebook and Instagram profile pictures. If we confirm a match and determine the ad is a scam, we'll block it. We immediately delete any facial data generated from ads for this one-time comparison, regardless of whether our system finds a match, and we don't use it for any other purpose."

Note the definitive explainer in the last line.

🔹 As noted, Meta has faced various challenges in utilizing facial recognition in the past, with privacy advocates raising concerns that such data could be used for malicious purpose, if it were to fall into the wrong hands. Back in 2021, Meta shut down its face recognition processes on Facebook entirely, amid a broader shift in policy designed to distance the platform from the controversies of its past. Facial recognition tools are already being used for questionable purpose, including identifying people entering sports stadiums, and matching people's criminal or credit history in real time. In China, for example, facial recognition technology is being used to catch people jaywalking, and send them fines in the mail, or further penalize people who've not paid parking fines.

🔹 Or worse, to identify Uyghur Muslims and single them out for tracking. That's one of the more chilling use cases for facial recognition technology, in picking out certain groups, and targeting them based on such information. Which is a key concern for Western regulators in administering policy around its use, and why Meta has sought to step away from the technology, for the most part. But now, it's wading in again, with selected use cases for face ID. In a second experiment, Meta's also testing video selfies as a means for people to verify their identity in order to regain access to compromised accounts. "The user will upload a video selfie, and we'll use facial recognition technology to compare the selfie to the profile pictures on the account they're trying to access. This is similar to identity verification tools you might already use to unlock your phone or access other apps." So again, this is a limited use case, and Meta's keen to note, again, that it will not keep any of these selfies on file. "As soon as someone uploads a video selfie, it will be encrypted and stored securely.

🔹 It will never be visible on their profile, to friends or to other people on Facebook or Instagram. We immediately delete any facial data generated after this comparison regardless of whether there's a match or not." But it is another step into facial recognition, which will no doubt raise concerns among privacy and security experts. So should Meta be looking to implement more use of facial ID? Well, it's a strong vector for cross-checking, and there's clearly a value in the process for security means. But it is risky, and it will bring more scrutiny on Meta once again, particularly in regards to how it stores and uses selfies and video face ID. But maybe, in a more limited, secure system, Meta will be able to implement these as more widespread security measures.

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📲 Celebrity jet-tracking accounts have vanished from Threads and Instagram
#News #Insta

🔹 Meta has suspended several Threads and Instagram accounts that track the private jets of celebrities such as Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, and former US president Donald Trump. Jack Sweeney, who gained notoriety for his ElonJet account on X and maintained many of the suspended accounts, said on Threads that the development is "reminiscent of all my accounts getting suspended on Twitter."

🔹 The shuttered accounts, which used publicly available data to show the flight paths of private jets, initially displayed a message on Monday that read, "The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed." Meta provided no direct warning or explanation for the suspensions, according to Sweeney, who says the accounts appear "blacked out with no options to interact or receive information."

🔹 In a statement to TechCrunch, however, an unnamed Meta spokesperson said "Given the risk of physical harm to individuals, and in keeping with the independent Oversight Board's recommendation, we've disabled these accounts for violating our privacy policy." An account tracking Taylor Swift's private jet was also deactivated earlier after the singer threatened to take legal action against Sweeney in February unless he ceased "stalking and harassing behavior."

🔹 Sweeney said that at least 38 of his accounts have been suspended across platforms like X and Threads, noting that "today feels like December 15th 2022" - the date on which the original ElonJet Twitter account was permanently suspended.

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📲 How to switch your Instagram account from public to private
#News #Insta

🔹 Anyone who has followed a social network knows that sometimes the most innocuous post can attract unpleasant responses, especially on apps like Instagram, where your content — whether video, image, or text — can be out there for anyone to see. There are any number of reasons you might want to set your account to private, even if only temporarily. It would make it so that only people you approve can follow you and see the stuff you post on your grid or in your Stories.
This isn’t a perfect solution. For example, although only your followers can see your posts while your account is private, some aspects of your account, such as your profile, will remain public.

Anyway, let’s begin.

🔹 To toggle your Instagram Private Account on:

🔺 Using the iOS or Android mobile app, tap on your profile icon in the lower-right corner and select the three-line hamburger icon in the top right. Using the web app, look for the hamburger icon at the bottom left.

🔺 On Android, scroll down and select Account privacy. On iOS, select Settings > Account privacy. On the web app, you’ll find Account privacy in the Settingscolumn on the left.

🔺 Toggle Private Account on.

🔹 If you want to pare down your followers, you can do that as well.

🔺 Go to your profile by selecting your personal icon.

🔺 Select the word “followers” to the right of your profile picture.

🔺 Tap or click the Remove button next to any followers you want to drop. You’ll be asked to confirm the removal and told that those followers will not be informed of their removal.

🔹 In your settings, you can also click the link to the Accounts Center if you want to deal with issues with other Meta apps as well, such as Facebook and Threads, or add other security features such as two-factor authentication.

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📲 Instagram Announces Halloween-Themed Activations
#News #Insta

🔹 Instagram has announced some spooky features for Halloween, including keyword-triggered animations in DMs, Stories templates, a Halloween font, and more. First off, Instagram’s added some “secret” Halloween-themed keywords in DMs and Notes which will activate effects and animations.
As you can see in the first image here, using specific keywords in your DMs will trigger animations like bats flying across the screen.

🔹 A few of the “secret” keywords (don’t tell anyone) are “Halloween”, “Happy Hallowen”, and “Trick-or-treat”, while Halloween-themed emojis will also prompt these animations. The second image here shows the new Halloween chat theme for DMs and broadcast channels, another way to spookify your chats. Though you can also use Meta’s AI tools to generate any background of your choosing.

🔹 Instagram’s also adding 5 custom “Add Yours” templates to prompt Stories interaction for the event. With these, you’ll be able to prompt your Stories viewers to share Halloween-themed images, or answer themed questions, among other options. The new templates will be available in the “Happy Halloween” section of the new “Add Yours Templates” Discovery Surface in Stories. Instagram’s also adding a new “Halloween” font, as well as a text effect:

🔹 While Meta also notes that users can generate Halloween-themed images and content via Meta AI. If you want. Personally, I still struggle to understand why regular users would want to post AI-generated images to their social media profiles, as they’re not reflective of a personal experience or creation. But Meta’s very keen for people to use its latest AI tools. So there’s that. These are some fun activations, that will no doubt help users get into the Halloween spirit, while brands can also make use of these fonts and features to dress up their Halloween posts and communications.
The new Halloween features will be available from today.

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📲 Meta signs its first big AI deal for news
#News #Insta

🔹 Meta's Al chatbot will soon begin citing Reuters reporting while answering news-related queries. The two companies have struck what Axios describes as a "multi-year deal" that will allow Meta to use Reuters content for its chatbot responses. The deal is the first of its kind for Meta, in an era of news outlets agreeing to provide their content to Al companies. "We're always iterating and working to improve our products, and through Meta's partnership with Reuters, Meta Al can respond to news-related questions with summaries and links to Reuters content," Meta spokesperson Jamie Radice said in an email.

🔹 "While most people use Meta Al for creative tasks, deep dives on new topics or how-to assistance, this partnership will help ensure a more useful experience for those seeking information on current events." "We can confirm that Reuters has partnered with tech providers to license our trusted, fact-based news content to power their Al platforms. The terms of these deals remain confidential," spokesperson Heather Carpenter told The Verge in an email. Axios reports that Reuters will be compensated for its content appearing in Meta's Al chatbot, which is accessible through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and links to Reuters stories will begin appearing for US users on Friday. Many of Meta's splashiest Al features have so far been character focused - celebrity chatbots the company recently scrapped, for example — instead of centered around current events.

🔹 Radice didn't respond to questions about safety measures in place for Al responses that deal with news and current events. Over the last year or so, news organizations, including The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and the Dotdash Meredith group have signed licensing deals with OpenAl. (Disclosure: Vox Media, The Verge's parent company, has a technology and content deal with OpenAl.) "Al is coming, it is coming quickly. We want to be part of whatever transition happens," The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson told The Verge.

🔹 "Transition might be bad, the transition might be good, but we believe the odds of it being good for journalism and the kind of work we do with The Atlantic are higher if we participate in it. So we took that approach." On the other end of the spectrum is The New York Times, which is engaged in an expensive legal battle against OpenAl and Microsoft, in which it claims the tech companies infringed on its copyright when they built their Al models. Meta leaning into news and current events within its Al chatbot is notable, considering its adversarial stance against such content on Threads. Executives have publicly said the company is "not going to do anything to encourage" hard news and political content, and though the Al chatbot is not integrated with the X competitor, it feels a bit like Meta wants it both ways - users can get their news from Meta platforms, but the company wants control over how they do so.

🔹 Though Meta now appears to be willing to pay for news content, it's also simultaneously fighting laws that would require compensating news publishers for their content on social media. If you live in Canada, for example, you can't access news on Facebook and Instagram because rather than pony up according to a new law, Meta opted to block all publisher accounts and links on the platforms. Google threatened similar action in California, where another "link tax" law was advancing — the bill ultimately died, and news outlets and Google reached a $250 million partnership agreement. Perhaps
unsurprisingly, part of that money is going to an Al program.

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📲 Instagram Says Including Your Own Logo on a Reel Is Fine
#News #Insta

⚙️ Mosseri clarifies that including your own brand’s logo will not impact the reach of your Reels on Instagram. To quote Mosseri directly:

“If you watermark a Reel with your own logo, will that affect its reach? The answer is no, that’s actually good to go. What we try to do is not recommend Reels with logos from other apps, but if it’s your own logo, don’t worry about it.”

⚙️ Back in 2021, Instagram implementing a discovery penalty for Reels that include the TikTok logo on them, in order to disincentivize users re-posting content between the two apps. Re-posting TikToks as Reels, even with a watermark, will still get shown to your followers in the same way, but their broader reach is limited, so they won’t show up in Explore or within recommendations.

⚙️ The specific advice at the time was that users should not post content “that’s visibly recycled from other apps.” Since then, YouTube has added Shorts, its own variation of short-form content, and that, seemingly, would also be covered under IG’s “logos from other apps” proviso here. But including your own brand logo on your clips is fine, and won’t result in a reach penalty.

⚙️ In some ways, it seems a bit petty for Meta to restrict the reach of re-posts from competitors, but then again, they do the same, in order to highlight original content (ideally) particularly across the discovery elements of their apps. So, to clarify, don’t re-post TikToks to Reels with the TikTok logo if you’re looking to reach a broader audience. But if you want to create a Reel that includes your own branding, that’s not a problem. A relevant clarification for Reels creators.

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📲 Instagram saves the best video quality for the most popular content
#News #Insta

⚙️ Ever wondered why some of your Instagram videos tend to look blurry, while others are crisp and sharp? It's because, on Instagram, the quality of your video apparently depends on how many views it's getting. That's according to a video AMA from Instagram head Adam Mosseri, in which he explained why some videos are lower-quality than others.
Here's part of Mosseri's explanation, from the video, which was reposted by a Threads user today: In general, we want to show the highest-quality video we can ... But if something isn't watched for a long time — because the vast majority of views are in the beginning — we will move to a lower quality video. And then if it's watched again a lot then we'll re-render the higher quality video. He continues, adding that the platform does this in order to "show people the highest-quality content we can."

⚙️ Instagram devotes more resources to videos from "creators who drive more views," Mosseri wrote later in response to the Threads post containing the clip. The shift in quality "isn't huge," Mosseri said in response to another Threads user, who'd asked if that approach disadvantaged smaller creators. That's "the right concern," he told them, but said people interact with videos based on its content, not its quality.

⚙️ That's consistent with how Meta has described its approach before. In 2021, the company projected it wouldn't be able to keep up with the increasing number of videos uploaded to the platform. (Meta estimated last year that it served 4 billion video streams per day on Facebook.) Meta wrote in a blog that in order to conserve computing resources for the relatively few, most watched videos, it gives fresh uploads the fastest, most basic encoding.

⚙️ After a video "gets sufficiently high watch time"" it receives a more robust encoding pass. Once it gets popular enough, Meta applies its most advanced (read: slowest, most computationally costly) processing to the video. The result, of course, is that the most popular creators tend to have the best-looking videos.

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📲 Instagram Downgrades Video Quality for Less Viewed Clips
#News #Insta

🔹In his weekly Q and A on IG Stories last week, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri noted that the quality of video for Stories and Reels posts can be reduced or increased at different times based on the engagement that each video receives. In response to a question about some older Stories looking blurry, Mosseri explained that: "In general, we want to show the highest quality video we can when someone is watching a Story or Reel. But if something isn't watched for a long time, because the vast majority of views are in the beginning [after initial posting], we will move to a lower quality video, and then if it's watched again a lot, then we'll re-render the higher quality video."

🔹Mosseri also notes that if someone is accessing a video on a slow internet connection, the app will serve them a lower-quality video, so that it loads more quickly. Which makes sense, in terms of maximizing resources to deliver the best user experience to the majority of users (i.e. if something is being viewed by more people, it should be presented in the best quality). But still, that also means that less viewed content loses out, as the reduction in playback quality will likely inhibit engagement, and compound that initial lack of views even further over time. Which seems like an unintended side effect of the process, and something that could impact your content.

🔹After his explanation sparked further discussion (via social media commentator Lindsey Gamble), Mosseri further noted that: "It works at an aggregate level, not an individual viewer level. We bias to higher quality (more CPU intensive encoding and more expensive storage for bigger files) for creators who drive more views. It's not a binary threshold, but rather a sliding scale." Which again means that the system inherently benefits bigger creators, which is something that Mosseri has previously claimed that he's working to correct. Back in April, when explaining a change to Instagram's ranking algorithms which was designed to benefit smaller creators, Mosseri noted that: "Smaller creators historically haven't gotten their fair share of reach on Instagram, and we want to change that.

🔹 So we're making some changes to how we rank recommendations to give smaller creators a better chance of breaking through." Giving more popular creators better video quality seems to run counter to that aim, but then again, Instagram has to also consider the overall user experience. So is this the only way? In yet another response to his video quality explainer, Mosseri also said that: "In practice it doesn't seem to matter much, as the quality shift isn't huge, and whether or not people interact with videos is way more based on the content of the video than the quality.

🔹 Quality seems to be much more important to the original creator, who is more likely to delete the video if it looks poor, than to their viewers."
Yeah, I don't know, I don't think that I'd be as willing to share a video that's a bit blurry, as opposed to a higher-quality clip. But the only person with the data here is Mosseri, and he knows the impact that this has on engagement, for both bigger and smaller creators. So we have to take his word, that the impacts are minimal, though it may also be worth noting for your metrics, that older, less popular video clips could be displayed in lower quality. Which could impact engagement.

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📲 Meta Is Developing a Search Engine to Power Its AI Chatbot
#News #Insta

🔹 Could Meta build its own search engine, and if it did, what would that look like? Reports have emerged that Meta is looking to build its own search tool for Meta Al, in order to reduce its reliance on Google and Microsoft's Bing for web searches within its Al chatbot. There are a couple of potential angles to the news, but it seems like Meta is looking to expand its data-gathering process in order to continue to build more powerful, real-time Al data tools. Which could result in a broader Meta search tool, powering real-time insights for its apps.

🔹 This is something that could have particular value for Threads, in providing up-to-the-minute notes on evolving news stories to complement engagement in the app. When Meta first announced its Meta AI chatbot in September last year, it explained how it would be using web search results from Bing to help expand its responses: "In text-based chats, Meta Al has access to realtime information through our search partnership with Bing and offers a tool for image generation." When Meta Al responses utilize Bing for information for context, Meta provides a web link to the search query. Then in April this year, Meta announced an additional partnership with Google to expand its web search responses even further, providing a similar web link on Google-powered replies.

🔹 And now, according The Information, Meta is looking to build its own web crawler to power search queries independently, in order to reduce its reliance on its search partners for Meta AI. As per The Information: "As Meta Platforms tries to keep up with OpenAl in developing artificial intelligence, the Facebook owner is working on a search engine that crawls the web to provide conversational answers about current events to people using its Meta Al chatbot." Conceptually, this would give Meta an alternative, in case Microsoft or Google, both of whom are competing with Meta on generative Al development, decided to end their search deals.

🔹 But that would also mean that Meta would need to build a complex search system, which crawls the web in a similar way to both Google and Bing. Which is a big undertaking, and why Meta went with these partnerships in the first place. But could Meta actually create a web crawler that functions in a similar way and would that be good enough to provide adequate answers in Meta's chatbot? Meta already has various web crawlers that gather information from external websites, and those crawlers have been ramping up activity in recent months, as Meta looks to gather more data for its Al projects.

🔹 They could also already be gathering data for this new search engine, but a dedicated Facebook search engine, again, would be a big project. Though a dedicated search engine is a logical move in the broader information gathering sense that would also give Meta more data for its AI language models moving forward. Maybe, that's actually the bigger picture here, as opposed to simply powering in-stream search. It's more likely that Meta's shoring up its data sources to power its Al tools and utilizing its existing crawlers to scrape whatever data it can from external providers who haven't updated their robots.txt protections. That would help Meta build upon its already vast data stores, and if it's already gathering that info, it makes sense to also reduce its reliance on external search providers where it can. So maybe it's likely less about building a competitor to these providers and more about making best use of its own data gathering processes. But even so, it's a significant undertaking, which could provide expanded opportunities for Zuck and Co., if they can get it right.
Really, though, it's not an unexpected move, given the competition in the space. Again, Meta is battling with these two providers for Al supremacy, and as the race continues to heat up, it'll come as no surprise if they stop helping Meta in this regard.

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📲 Instagram Unveils Annual ‘Creators of Tomorrow’ Listing
#News #Insta

🔹 Instagram has announced its annual "Creators of Tomorrow" listing, which highlights some of the top emerging creators in the app who are helping to shape cultural and usage trends. And while some of the categories and descriptions feel a little trite, it may be worth checking out the selected creators to see what it is that they're doing right, and whether you can learn anything from their success. This year, Instagram has highlighted 25 creators in five different categories, which are designed to recognize the key emerging movements that are gaining traction in the app.

🔹 The five categories for 2024 are:

🔹 "The Creator's Inspo" - Highly creative users who are tapping into the latest editing tools and tricks

🔹 "AI Accelerators" - Creators who are utilizing the latest AI tools to great effect

🔹 "IG Besties" - Creators that make you think "you're so real for this" whenever they share content."

🔹 "DM-Worthy Icons" - Creators who post some of the most shareable content

🔹 "The Vibe Curators" - Creators who "set the vibe, take you on a journey and spark emotion."

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📲 Meta Posts Strong Revenue Result in Q3
News #Insta

🔹 Meta has shared its latest performance update, showing a small increase in active users across its apps, and a big increase in revenue, in relative terms. Though its investments in next-level projects remain significant. Here’s a look at the latest numbers from Mark Zuckerberg’s tech behemoth.
First off, on active users. Meta reports that it now has 3.29 billion people using its apps (Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Threads) every day, which is a small increase on the 3.27 billion it reported in Q2.

🔹 Though we’re talking about 3 billion plus people, the scale of which is difficult to truly comprehend. The population of the world is estimated to be around 8.1 billion, so Meta’s apps are used by almost 40% of the entire planet, every single day. Minus the 1.4 billion Chinese residents (where Meta is banned), and that’s closer to 50%, so the breadth of Meta’s operation in this sense is pretty amazing.

🔹 And it’s still growing. Despite its apps presumably reaching saturation point in many markets, Meta’s still seeing more users sign up to its apps, which bodes well for its ongoing potential, and its core ads business. Indeed, Meta’s also driving more revenue, on average, from those users. Meta doesn’t break down its ARPP results by market like it used to, but as you can see here, Meta’s overall revenue per user is rising, and will increase again amid the holiday rush in Q4. Which will help Meta continue to improve its revenue intake. Meta remains reliant on North America and Europe for the majority of its revenue intake, though it’s steadily increasing its Asia Pacific market intake as well.

🔹 That’s seen it post a strong revenue result for the period of $40.59 billion. So while Meta is spending a stupid amount on VR and now AI development, it continues to rake in the cash from its main cash cow, by showing people more ads in its apps. On that front, Meta also reported that ad impressions delivered across its apps have increased by 7% year-over-year. The average price per ad is also increasing (+11% YoY), though the math there is probably not ideal for social media marketers.

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📲 Is Meta’s Anti-Politics Stance a Sustainable Strategy?
News #Insta

🔹 Meta's anti-politics stance could end up causing it as many headaches as allowing political discussion, with more questions being raised as to how the company decides what's "political" and what's not, and how that impacts the user experience. This week, Meta's independent Oversight Board has raised questions about Meta's over-enforcement of its posting rules, after a post which included this image was removed from Facebook:

🔹 As per the Oversight Board:

"In August 2024, a Facebook user posted an altered picture based on the poster for the 1994 comedy film "Dumb and Dumber." In the altered image, the faces of the original actors are replaced by the U.S. presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The content was posted with a caption that includes the emojis "???? ♂️????????." Meta initially removed the user's post from Facebook under its Bullying and Harassment Community Standard, which prohibits "derogatory sexualized photoshop or drawings. After the user appealed Meta's decision to remove their content to the Board, the Board brought this case to the company's attention. Meta then determined its removal was incorrect, restoring the post to Facebook."

🔹 In the summary of its findings, the Oversight Board notes the "overenforcement of Meta's
Bullying and Harassment policy with respect to satire and political speech", and the dangers that such may pose in the context of an election, "as it may lead to the excessive removal of political speech and undermine the ability to criticize government officials and political candidates, including in a sarcastic manner." So, in this case, Meta didn't specifically note that it was removed due to its clampdown on political speech. But the concern is that Meta's anti-politics push could restrict users' ability to discuss world events, and politics specifically, because of Meta's ramped up enforcement of such content.

🔹 The same also applies to Meta's Twitter competitor Threads, which has also been widely criticized for avoiding political content. With the U.S. election a key focus at present, just days out from the poll, Threads should logically feature a lot more political content, in reflection of the news of the day, but Meta's stated aversion to such is restricting real-time discussion of some of the most critical news of the moment. That's likely to impede Threads growth as a key news channel, which was central to Twitter's appeal. Under Elon Musk, Twitter (now X), has leaned further into right-wing conspiracy theories and support for the Republican agenda, which has left many seeking an alternative source of up-to-the-minute coverage of the latest political news. Threads, at this stage, is failing on this front, which could eventually force Meta to re-think its suppression of political content, at least at Threads context. There's also a question, again, as to what Meta's considers to be "political", with the company remaining vague in its descriptions of its parameters.
Indeed, some Threads users have complained of being censored in the app for posting anything at all about political candidates.

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📲 Instagram Adds DM Filters to Assist Creators
News #Insta

🔹 Instagram has added some new messaging filters for creators accounts, which will make it easier to sort through your message requests, and find the most relevant inquiries in your inbox. As you can see in these examples, creators will now be able to sort and filter their message requests via various qualifiers, including reordering them based on the sender's follower count, listing DMs from verified accounts only, from brand accounts only, from other creators, and more. There's also a new, dedicated "Story replies" folder, which will make it easier to scan through your actual messages, as opposed to Story replies.

🔹 That should make it easier for creators to manage their often cluttered inboxes, and get to relevant requests, especially brand collab queries. Which, evidently, is a major headache for big creators. As explained by IG chief Adam Mosseri: "When you go to the requests inbox, sometimes it can be really overwhelming, and I've heard this a lot from creators I've talked around the world. So what we've done is we've added ways to filter down those requests to just see the ones that you're looking for." So while regular users likely don't have a lot of trouble dealing with their DM traffic, this becomes a bigger problem for creators the larger their audience reach gets. Remember when T-Pain discovered that he had a heap of DM requests for collaborations that he didn't even realize were coming through IG?

🔹 I guess that's the type of challenge Instagram's looking to address with these new filters, making it easier for big creators to make sense of their DMs quickly, and ensure that they don't miss anything important coming in. And with DMs becoming the primary interaction option across all social apps (with feeds switching to entertainment-focused content), it makes sense for Instagram to lean into DM activity, and ensure that it's helping creators to maximize their opportunities.

🔹 Because Mosseri and Meta also know that they need creators to keep posting to keep IG relevant, while they'll also need those creators engaged in their apps to lead into the next stage, being the metaverse. Improving DM connection is another way to increase creator reliance on the platform, and these changes could be valuable in the broader scheme. Instagram also notes that it's "continuing to invest in improvements that will simplify DMs and make it easier for creators to navigate their messages." So there could be further DM improvements coming soon.

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📲 Can Meta Really Avoid Political Content?
#News #Insta

🔹 Here's the thing about Meta's public stance on distancing itself from political content: That doesn't mean that Meta's apps aren't going to be used for political influence anyway. Last week, Forbes reported that Facebook is hosting hundreds of ads that distribute misinformation about the upcoming election, with Meta taking in millions of dollars from these campaigns, despite them clearly violating the platform's rules.

🔹 As per Forbes:

"One of the ads features a stylized image of Vice President Kamala Harris with devil horns and an American flag burning behind her. Other ads feature images of Harris and VP candidate Tim Walz interposed with post-apocalyptic scenes, and pictures of Walz and President Biden mashed up with images of prescription drugs spilling out of bottles. One features an apparently Al-generated image of a smiling Harris in a hospital room preparing to give a screaming child an injection. Another features images of anti-vaxxer and third-party candidate RFK Jr. Some of the ads question whether Harris will remain in the race and suggest that America is "headed for another civil war."

🔹 Which is no surprise. In the 2016 election, Russian-based operatives used Facebook ads to promote a range of conflicting reports about U.S. political candidates, in order to sow discord among American voters. The ultimate aim of this push was unclear, but the massive reach potential of Facebook served as a significant lure for such operations. Which eventually saw Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg hauled before Congress to answer for the role that his platforms had played in election misinformation. That, coupled with media entities pushing to charge Meta for the use of their content, formed the impetus for Meta's anti-politics push, and Meta has been gradually moving away from such ever since. It's cut its dedicated news section, and ended deals with news publishers, while earlier this year, Meta directly announced its intention to move away from political content entirely, in favor of more entertaining, less divisive interaction in its apps.

🔹 But now, Meta's being caught up in the same way as it was when it had been more open to political discussion. So really, is its public stance against such actually going to have any effect, or is it more of a PR move to appease regulatory groups?Really, Meta can't avoid politics, as it's reliant on what users post in its apps. All it can do, as it's been seeking to implement, is to reduce the reach of political posts, in order to lessen the presence of such. But politics is also a key element of discussion, and public interest, and if Meta's going to keep serving the public as an informational and interactive source, then it can't cull politics completely.

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📲 Instagram Now Has More Users Than Facebook in EU
#News #Insta

🔹 Last week, in addition to reporting its Q3 performance update, Meta also shared its latest EU user numbers for Facebook and Instagram as part of its Digital Services Act (DSA) obligations. And the numbers show that Instagram has now surpassed Facebook's active user count in the region. Instagram now has 269.1 million monthly active users in EU, versus 260.6 million for Facebook. In Meta's first EU user report, covering the period between April to September 2023, both platforms had the same user count, at 259 million MAU.

🔹 But now, IG has superseded the company's flagship app, with Facebook seeing much slower growth, and even slightly declining in usage over the most recent measurement period (April to September this year). Could that be a more common trend around the world, with Facebook potentially losing audience, as Instagram continues to add more users? Well, we don't know for sure, as Meta stopped reporting Facebook's monthly active user counts this year, in favor a combined audience measurement for its entire "Family of Apps" (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads). But based on the last time that it reported Facebook's monthly actives (Q4 2023), it does seem that this is more likely confined to EU, and potentially U.S. audiences.

🔹 Facebook's EU user count was in decline throughout 2023, and really, had been on a downward trend since 2022. Its U.S. user count had also been fairly stagnant, but Facebook usage was still growing in other markets. As such, it seems like this shift would be more confined to EU, and not reflective of broader trends. But even so, it is interesting to see IG potentially taking the mantle from Facebook as Meta's main app, even if only in selected markets. The other question then is: "Why is Facebook losing traction with European audiences?" Well, some of that can be attributed to the implementation of improved data privacy regulations in Europe, which have revealed more about the data that Facebook takes in, and can use in its various applications. That, some suggest, has seen more users turn away from the app, while other reports indicate that more EU users now find Facebook to be outdated versus other apps.

🔹 Whatever the reason, it is also important to note that Facebook remains hugely popular in the region, with 260 million active users. TikTok has 150 million EU monthly actives, while X has 66 million, so on balance, even with a slight decline, Facebook is still a key interactive platform for European users. It's just not as popular as IG now is, which likely suggests that Facebook isn't catching on with younger audiences as well as it used to.

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📲 Meta’s Rolling Out More Variable Ad Display Options
#News #Insta

🔹 Meta's rolling out a new ad option called "Flexible Media", which is its next step in enabling variable ad delivery approaches based on its systematic predictions of user response. Okay, that was a bit of a jargonistic explainer. The more simple explanation is Meta's looking to maximize ad performance by having more creative options that it can then display to different users. On this front, Meta's already pushing advertisers to utilize its automated Advantage+ campaign tools, which effectively choose which of your ads to show different users.

🔹 It also has several ad options that can customize and personalize ad display, with Flexible Media playing another part in this. As you can see in this example, posted by Bram Van Der Hallen, "Flexible Media" is showing up as an option to some advertisers on some Meta Ads campaigns. As per the description: "We'll deliver the media you choose for placement groups across placements when it's likely to improve performance." To be clear, this is different from "Flexible Ads", which enable you to submit 10 images for an ad, with Meta's system then able to pick and choose which images to show to each user.

🔹 Flexible Media looks to be another variation on this, which would enable Meta's system to use different images for different placement groups. So, essentially, you'd be giving Meta's system permission to use different images for different ad types, as it sees fit. As noted, it's another step towards Meta fully automating ad campaigns, and displaying different ads to different users, relative to how its systems determine likely response. In other words, Meta's seeking to automate more and more elements of your ad process, so that eventually, you won't even need to come up with any element of your ad. You'll just enter a URL, and Meta will do the rest.

🔹 Which likely feels like you're giving over too much control to the system, but given that Meta's ad targeting process is based on its system Al, which measures and tracks ad responses, it makes sense that it would also be able to help you reach a more receptive audience. And you're likely restricting that by manually choosing your audience.
So while it may feel wrong, and like you're not utilizing your audience knowledge for ad targeting, it's likely worth experimenting with Meta's automated ad options, and seeing whether they drive better results. Flexible Media looks to be another part of this, giving Meta's systems more options on which ads and ad displays it can show to users.

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📲 Meta Extends Political Ads Blackout Beyond Election Period
#News #Insta

🔹 Meta has announced that it's extending its restriction period on election-related ads beyond the U.S. election, as it gears up for what's anticipated to be a long running, and divisive vote counting process. Meta's regular elections ads blackout period was set to be in place from October 29th till November 5th, but now, Meta is extending that for an undefined period to limit potential concerns.

🔹 As per Meta:

"The restriction period for ads about social issues, elections or politics is being extended until later this week. As a reminder, ads that have run prior to 12:01 AM PT on October 29, 2024 and served at least one impression will be allowed to continue while the restriction period is in effect with limited editing capabilities."

So Meta's gone with the non-definitive "later this week" as its extension period, as it looks to measure response to the poll, and what that means for civic participation.

🔹 Already, various political commentators have raised the possibility of vote tampering, and party operators looking to cheat the democratic system, in various ways. That follows the 2020 election, when accusations of vote rigging carried on right through to inauguration day, and sparked various incidents of violent unrest. With this in mind, Meta's keen to ensure that it's not contributing to such in any way, which is why it's expanding its election ad restrictions, again, for an indefinite period, this time around.

🔹 For regular advertisers, this obviously doesn't have much impact, outside of clearing the way for more of your ads to be shown in more places in Meta's apps. But election angst may make those ads less effective either way, so that may not be a major benefit. For political advertisers, this will mean rethinking your strategies somewhat, but then again, I suspect that most political ad campaigns are already on hold now till the results become clear. Meta will provide an update on its political ads blackout later in the week.

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📲 Australia to ban TikTok, Instagram, and X for under 16s.
#News #Insta

🔹 Australia's government says it will introduce "world-leading" legislation to ban children under 16 from social media. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the proposed laws, to be tabled in parliament next week, were aimed at mitigating the "harm" social media was inflicting on Australian children. "This one is for the mums and dads... They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online. I want Australian families to know that the government has your back," he said. While many of the details are yet to be debated, the government said the ban would apply to young people already on social media. There will be no exemptions on the age limit for children who have consent from their parents.

🔹 The government says that the onus would be on social media platforms to show they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access.
Albanese said there would be no penalties for users, and that it would be up to Australia's online regulator - the eSafety Commissioner - to enforce the laws. The legislation would come into force 12 months after it passes and be subject to a review after it's in place. While most experts agree that social media platforms can harm the mental health of adolescents, many are split over the efficacy of trying to outlaw them all together. Some experts argue that bans only delay young people's exposure to apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, instead of teaching them how to navigate complex online spaces. Previous attempts at restricting access, including by the European Union, have largely failed or faced backlash from tech firms.

🔹 And questions remain over how implementation would work given there are tools which can circumvent age-verification requirements. One of Australia's largest advocacy groups for child rights has criticised the proposed ban as "too blunt an instrument". In an open letter sent to the government in October, signed by over 100 academics and 20 civil society organisations, the Australian Child Rights Taskforce called on Albanese to instead look at imposing "safety standards" on social media platforms. The group also pointed to UN advice that "national policies" designed to regulate online spaces "should be aimed at providing children with the opportunity to benefit from engaging with the digital environment and ensuring their safe access to it".

🔹 But other grassroots campaigners have lobbied Australia's government for the laws, saying bans are needed to protect children from harmful content, misinformation, bullying and other social pressures. A petition by the 36Months initiative, which has over 125,000 signatures, argues children are "not yet ready to navigate online social networks safely" until at least 16, and that currently "excessive social media use is rewiring young brains within a critical window of psychological development, causing an epidemic of mental illness". When asked whether there should be broader efforts to educate children about how to navigate the benefits and risks of being online, Albanese said that such an approach would be insufficient because it "assumes an equal power relationship". "I don't know about you, but I get things popping up on my system that I don't want to see. Let alone a vulnerable 14-year-old," he told reporters on Thursday. "These tech companies are incredibly powerful. These apps have algorithms that drive people towards certain behaviour."

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