All articles tagged with #facebook
Meta quietly released a standalone app called Forum that mirrors Reddit-style discussions within Facebook Groups, tied to your Facebook login, and includes AI assistants for users and admins; observers see potential competition with Reddit, but it’s unclear whether users will migrate, as Meta continues a broader AI-driven app push.
Meta’s Forum app turns Facebook Groups into a standalone iPhone app with a dedicated AI chatbot that searches posts from your groups and provides AI-generated responses, blending a Reddit-style feed of group discussions with AI-assisted insights and group discovery.
Meta is rolling out two iPhone apps this month, headlined by Forum, a standalone Facebook Groups app that offers a dedicated space for group discussions with admin tools and cross‑sync to Facebook, alongside Instagram’s new Instants app.
The piece argues Meta is entering a long decline, with a first-ever dip in user numbers, strained earnings, and a costly pivot away from social feeds toward the Metaverse and AI, leaving Facebook’s experience cluttered with ads and misinformation and drawing comparisons to AOL/Yahoo as a cautionary internet-era fade—raising questions about whether Zuckerberg can reverse the trend.
Meta says Facebook and Instagram will use an AI system to scan photos and videos for general cues like height and bone structure to identify users under 13 (not facial recognition), deactivate those accounts, and require age verification to prevent deletion. The rollout begins in select countries including the US, with wider UK/EU rollout planned, and Instagram will automatically place 13–17-year-olds into stricter Teen Accounts. The move comes amid ongoing age-verification policy debates and follows a New Mexico court verdict against Meta.
New Mexico’s second phase of its lawsuit against Meta seeks billions in damages and a court order to curb youth harms, asking a judge to label Meta’s platforms a 'public nuisance' and require changes such as age verification, redesigned algorithms for minors, and ending autoplay for under-18 users; Meta contends the platforms are safe and that many requested remedies are impractical.
A Vietnamese-linked operation hijacks Facebook accounts by using Google AppSheet as a phishing relay, targeting Business account owners to capture credentials and 2FA data, with roughly 30,000 victim records spread across several clusters (Netlify, CAPTCHA-gated pages, and Canva-generated PDFs) that feed the stolen data to Telegram channels and facilitate resale on underground markets; the campaign illustrates evolving tactics and the repurposing of trusted platforms in a dark, criminal economy.
The Consumer Federation of America has filed a DC consumer-protection lawsuit accusing Meta of profiting from and failing to curb scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram, despite public promises to fight fraud; Meta says the allegations misrepresent their efforts, while CFA seeks damages, disgorgement of profits, and reforms to curb future scams.
A Stanford-led study of about 36,000 Facebook and Instagram users found that a six-week break from Facebook significantly improved emotional well-being—especially for users over 35, undecided voters, and those without a college degree—while Instagram boosts were smaller and not always statistically robust; most of the time freed from scrolling was redirected to other apps, suggesting mood gains came from the platforms themselves rather than from reduced overall screen time.
Meta removed ads by law firms recruiting clients for social-media-addiction lawsuits on Facebook and Instagram after recent court losses, with some ads deactivated though others remain visible in the Ad Library. Meta says it won’t allow trial lawyers to profit from its platforms while claims of harm persist, while firms argue the move censors victims and stifles accountability.
AP News profiles Lynette Hooker, who disappeared in the Bahamas, and recounts the couple’s years of Caribbean sailing that were chronicled on the “Sailing Hookers” social pages, including their Michigan home in Onsted and the Soul Mate sailboat they fixed up for a life at sea.
Meta is laying off several hundred employees across multiple divisions—including Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales, and Reality Labs—as it pivots toward artificial intelligence, with some staff offered new roles or relocations.
A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for allegedly allowing child predators to target young users on Facebook and Instagram, citing algorithms and weak protections; Meta plans to appeal and says it remains committed to user safety.
Creative Bloq argues Meta’s 2021 pivot to the metaverse and rebrand has backfired, with Horizon Worlds being shut down and Realty Labs layoffs signaling a retreat from the plan, underscoring how hindsight paints the branding as misguided amid a fading of the metaverse vision.
Meta’s Creator Fast Track is pitched as a program to help creators rapidly grow their Facebook audiences and monetize across Facebook and partner platforms, offering growth tools, analytics, monetization options, and dedicated support to accelerate earnings and expand reach across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.