Facebook is so far removed from the platform it first started as, it is hardly the same product. Many users would say it is not even the same platform it was a couple of years ago, and one of the biggest changes -- and irritants -- is the sheer volume of worthless content.

By this, we mean spam-like rubbish rather than stuff you’re just not interested in, and Meta has announced that it is finally taking action that it hopes will effectively reduce and discourage “spammy content”.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Embattled social platform TikTok has announced a new Security Checkup tool. It has been designed as a one-stop dashboard where users can check and update all of their account security settings.

The security tool is similar to those provided by the likes of Google and Meta, and it helps to promote the idea of users being proactive in ensuring account security. Importantly, there is a lot of hand-holding to eliminate the feeling of intimidation that some people may otherwise have felt about security issues such as passkeys and two-step verification.

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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.

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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.

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YouTube has announced a partnership with Repurpose.io designed to make multi-platform publishing easier than ever. An automated system makes it possible to repost TikTok content, as well as Instagram Reels, as YouTube Shorts.

The uncertain future of TikTok in the US has shaken creators who have built up substantial and lucrative followings on the Chinese-owned social platform. YouTube is eager to make the most of this uncertainty, and is clearly hoping that the new Repurpose.io partnership will help it to steal TikTok users.

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Finding the right platform through which to make meaningful and valuable connections can be difficult, and this is certainly true for LGBTQIA+ professionals and business owners. LinkedIn may be the go-to platform for establishing business connections, but it is very broad and almost too big.

Stepping in to fill a significant gap in the market is Famm Connect, which is billed as “the first mobile app for LGBTQ+ professionals” and the “queer LinkedIn”. The aim is to create a safe environment to establish connections and relationships.

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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.

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Social media darling Bluesky is wooing users and drawing many away from X. But while the platform is enjoying a meteoric rise in popularity, the European Commission is unimpressed with its failure to disclose information.

The commission points out that all social media platforms operating within the European Union must clearly publish key pieces of information, including how many EU users there are. Bluesky does not do this, nor reveal where the company is legally established.

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Back in September, Elon Musk announced upcoming changes to the blocking feature of X. Once fully implemented, the change means that when an X user blocks someone, that blocked user will still be able to see all of the content posted by the blocker, although no interaction will be possible.

The precise reasons for changing the functionality of blocking in this way is not really clear, but it is something that has sparked concern. In addition to risks to privacy, there are also worries about what the changes could mean for victims of cyber-stalking.

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Managing WhatsApp contacts has proved to be a frustrating friction point for many users, and Meta has just announced that it is taking steps to simplify things.

As well as making it possible to add contacts via the web interface and Windows app, soon it will be possible to use linked devices -- not just your primary mobile -- to manage them. There are also new privacy controls including the option to create WhatsApp-only contacts to keep your main address book separate. And there is more on the horizon, with contact usernames being a particular highlight.

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