Hey, remember how a few weeks back we reported on the sudden rise of TikTok clone Zynn, which is partly funded by the Chinese rival of TikTok’s parent company? As a brief summary, Zynn is an almost direct copy of TikTok, and is funded by Kuaishou, which is a rival app for Douyin (the Chinese version…
Facebook continues to push ahead with its messaging integration plan, with another new Instagram/Messenger integration element spotted in testing. As you can see in this screenshot, posted by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi (and shared by Matt Navarra), Facebook is currently working on the presentation options for a new integration of Messenger inbox access within Instagram Direct. That builds upon discovery…
Facebook’s looking to add an extra level of insight to certain search results, with several users reporting a new Knowledge Panel type display for some queries in the main app, with an overview ported from Wikipedia. As you can see in this example posted by user JC Van Zijl (and shared by Matt Navarra), the new panel displays a summary…
After first launching it with users in Brazil back in March, then expanding access to Italian audiences in May, Twitter has now announced that its take on the Stories format – ‘Fleets’ – is coming to the Indian market. Fleets, as you can see in these images, are very much like Stories, with a new panel…
Facebook’s looking to make it easier for Page managers to respond to message queries by adding a new, simple toggle which will enable switching between personal and business Messenger accounts. As you can see in the above sequence, now, when you tap and hold your profile picture in Messenger, you’ll be able to quickly switch to your…
With demand for news content peaking amid various major events, Facebook has announced that it’s rolling out its revamped Facebook News tab to all US users from today. First launched in selected regions last October, the new Facebook News will, at least initially, be available via the app menu, as opposed to getting its own main tab…
Google has announced some additional targeting restrictions for housing, credit, and employment ads, as it works to eliminate discriminatory use of its advanced ad targeting tools. As per Google: “[The new] policy will prohibit impacted employment, housing, and credit advertisers from targeting or excluding ads based on gender, age, parental status, marital status, or ZIP Code, in…
The truth is, the rise of rival social apps really annoys Facebook. I mean, that makes sense – if competitor gains traction and starts to eat into your market share, you need to fight back, or you risk losing your position, which is how Facebook ousted MySpace back in 2008. It makes sense that Facebook wouldn’t…
In an almost perfect illustration of adversarial politics, US Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has today called on Facebook to do more to stop misinformation in political campaigns, while also pushing the company to take action against voter suppression efforts. In an open letter, Biden says that Facebook needs to: Promote authoritative and trustworthy sources of election information, rather…
Facebook’s experimental NPE team has released its sixth new app, this time focused on facilitating phone calls between friends who are up for a chat. Called CatchUp, the new app is essentially Messenger Rooms for voice calls, providing the capacity to see when your friends are online and up for a voice call, as well…