2024 is here, and with it are a litany of projections and strategy predictions from various gurus. However, what are the platforms actually doing? Well, Meta is fighting the FTC regarding the data of children on the platform, Instagram is continuing to pursue features that will help people collaborate. X is shaking things up every other day it seems… and this is just the beginning.
1. Creating Instagram stories… for your friends?
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Instagram is testing a new feature that would allow users to create a story for a friend. If the friend approves it, it will publish from their account.
From Social Media Today:
“We are always working on new ways for people to share and connect on Instagram and are now testing a way to request to share to a friend’s story with a small group of people to start.”
This could be an interesting way to collaborate with other brands. Read more from Social Media Today.
2. X has brought headlines back
Back in the fall, X made a confusing decision to remove headlines from the platform. Looks like it was a short lived experiment, as they have returned. However, the text is tiny. Compromise, maybe?
After removing headlines from URL cards on X (formerly Twitter), the platform is adding them back — but they don’t work quite the same as before. Some of us at The Verge are seeing on the web that headlines and website title pages are now appearing over the images that link to those pages, which makes it a lot easier to know what you’re clicking on.
3. Meta is now offering Link History tracking on Facebook
Facebook is offering to tracks links you click on, logging the websites you visit and allowing you to revisit them. According to Meta, you’ll “never lose a link again!”
Facebook recently rolled out a new “Link History” setting that creates a special repository of all the links you click on in the Facebook mobile app. You can opt out if you’re proactive, but the company is pushing Link History on users, and the data is used for targeted ads. As lawmakers introduce tech regulations and Apple and Google beef up privacy restrictions, Meta is doubling down and searching for new ways to preserve its data harvesting empire.
4. Meta takes on the FTC, claiming a right to profit off the data of minors
Meta refuses to back down, taking on the FTC in a battle to profit off the data of children.
Meta is working all the angles it can to ensure it will still be able to profit from children’s Facebook data. After a recent loss in court, the company has now sued the Federal Trade Commission, arguing the agency doesn’t have the constitutional authority to change a 2020 $5 billion settlement over the company’s alleged lack of privacy protections.
