Meta finally updates Messenger to allow sharing larger files
Despite the popularity of WhatsApp and other messaging apps, Meta’s Messenger (or Facebook Messenger) maintains an incredibly healthy userbase. Millions of people continue to use this stalwart of social messaging even though it has various limitations when compared to its rivals.
But Meta has just addressed an issue that has irked users for a long time: the size of file attachments. For far too long, a file size limit of 10MB has been in place -- a limit that is way out of line with modern file sizes (although it was higher for some users). Now it has been increased.
WhatsApp shares details of a laundry list of new features and options for chatting and calling
The development of WhatsApp continues to be rapid and surprisingly exciting for a messaging app. It seems that hardly a week goes by without something new and interesting being added, and this can actually work against the app sometimes.
It is with this in mind that the developers acknowledge that their pace of work means it “can be easy to miss out on useful and exciting ways you can use WhatsApp”. So the team has put together a lengthy roundup of the new features that have been added, including document scanning on iPhone, video call zooming, and voice message transcripts on Channels.
Meta brings teen accounts to Facebook and Messenger, and bolsters Instagram restrictions
Teen use of social media platforms is something that is concerning for many parents and has become the subject of political and legal debates. Having introduced Instagram Teen Accounts, last year, Meta has now done the same for both Facebook and Messenger.
Just as with Instagram, Teen Accounts on the social and messaging platforms have built-in protections and restrictions. At the same time, the company is also introducing additional controls and restrictions for teenage users on Instagram.
Meta has officially stopped using third-party fact checkers, relying instead on Community Notes
Back at the beginning of the year, Meta announced that third-party fact checking would become a thing of the past on its platforms. The company revealed plans to go down a similar route to X and use Community Notes to allows for crowd-sourced fact-checking instead.
After a short period of testing -- less than a month, in fact -- Community Notes are now starting to appear on Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Meta has also confirmed that, with immediate effect, there will be no new fact check labels on content in many parts of the world.
WhatsApp now lets you add music to your Status update
WhatsApp is primarily about keeping in touch with people, be that friends, family, colleagues, businesses or some other group. But there is also the option to update your Status to indicate what you’re up to, how you’re feeling, or any other number of creative possibilities.
Now WhatsApp has opened up a new option -- adding music to Status updates. This gives you the option of complementing a photo or video Status with a backing track, and WhatsApp says it has millions of songs that you can use.
Facebook is ditching its recommendation algorithm with a huge Friends tab update
Life online, particularly on social media platforms, is driven by algorithms that make constant recommendations to users in an attempt to keep them engaged for longer. While algorithms have their place, there has been a massive backlash against their incessant use on the likes of Facebook, partly because they gobble up personal data, but also because the recommendations are often rubbish.
This is something that apparently even Facebook is aware of. The social media giant has just announced that it is going back to its roots with a massive update to the Friends tab. Here, users are promised that they will be shown only content from their friends and no recommended content at all.
Study finds that Instagram is beneficial to the wellbeing of queer youth
There is much said about the negative impact of social media on mental health and general welfare, but a new study suggests that there are benefits too -- especially for minority and marginalized groups such as the LGBTQIA+ community.
In particular, Instagram has been found to be a boost to the wellbeing of queer young people. Surveys of Instagram users in the United States and Poland showed that access to supportive online communities brought about a range of psychological benefits.
Meta announces that Facebook Live videos will no longer be saved forever
Meta has made a surprise announcement about Facebook Live video. The company has updated its video storage policy, and this means that live streams will no longer be stored indefinitely.
This is a significant change from the social media giant. Meta says that it is aligning its storage policies with industry standards, and the impact will be noticed by many. Videos that were once stored forever will now be automatically deleted after just 30 days -- so you need to act now.
Instagram is working on a Dislike button that will anonymously downrank comments
Across pretty much every social platform there is a strange focus on responding positively to content through the use of a ‘like’ button. Instagram is no different in this regard, but this could be about to change.
Some users have noticed a new down arrow button next to comments which has been confirmed by Instagram's trial of a new feature. The button enables users to dislike a comment under a post, but it does not work quite as you may expect.
WhatsApp is rolling out chat themes to help make every chat unique
WhatsApp has started the rollout of a feature it says that users have been asking for -- chat themes. Using a combination of wallpapers and colored chat bubbles, every conversation can be given its own look.
This is a change that is about more than aesthetics, though. In providing the option to make every chat look different, WhatsApp is making it much easier to identify chats and avoid the tricky issue of sending a message to the wrong person or group.
Meta may have torrented over 80 terabytes of pirated books to train its AI models
Just how AI models should be trained has been a subject of debate for some time now, with there being a lot of focus in whether publicly posted social media content is ripe for the picking or not. Now a new lawsuit suggests that Meta has been using pirated ebooks as a data source.
Emails that are serving as evidence in a copyright case against Meta appear to show that the Facebook owner has torrented scores of terabytes of data from a number of online resources. Among the places mentioned in newly released unredacted emails are Anna’s Archive, Z-Library and LibGen.
Meta will continue to use fact checkers -- for now, at least, and only outside of the US
When Mark Zuckerberg announced recently that Meta was ditching fact checking on Facebook and Instagram in favor of X-style community notes, the response was very mixed. While hardly a clean line between the two camps, those with conservative political leanings tended to see this as a good thing, while those of a more liberal bent voiced concerns about the potential for misinformation.
The recent announcement about moving away from fact checking was widely seen as Zuckerberg trying to curry favor with Donald Trump, now installed as the 47th president of the USA. Now a new pronouncement from the company makes it hard to shake the notion that stepping away from fact checking was a politically motivated move.
WhatsApp is rolling out a new reaction emoji just in time for the New Year
Reaction emoji are a quick and easy way to respond to a message in WhatsApp with an absolute minimum of effort. Whether you simply can’t be bothered to type a message, or you’re already multi-tasking several things, the option to just send a thumbs up to a message is a handy option to have.
While there is nothing to stop you from sending any emoji you want as a response, there are several default options made available for easy access -- such as a heart or a sad face in addition to the thumbs up. For some time there have been six default emoji, but now WhatsApp is adding another to the family to make a septet.
All social media platforms can learn from Instagram’s option to reset content recommendations
A huge proportion of what you encounter on social media platforms is selected by algorithms (this should be news to very few people), and algorithms are problematic.
The content that is pushed to you is supposed to be based on your past interactions, the people you are connected to, the things you like, and so on, but it is easily polluted and corrupted. And this is why Instagram’s current test that gives users a way to reset their recommendations and start afresh is so welcome.
WhatsApp now offers voice message transcripts
There are times when it makes sense to type a message in WhatsApp, and others when it is better to send a voice message. As the recipient of a voice message, it may not be convenient or possible to listen straight way.
Now WhatsApp has finally added the solutions users have been asking for -- transcripts. This long-awaited feature provides a text version of an audio message so you can read it instead of listening to it.
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