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Threads was originally going to live inside the Instagram app

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Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is on the stand today in Meta’s antitrust trial . In trying to prove the social network is not a monopoly, he shared that the Threads app could have been just a feature inside of Instagram. Meta was working on built-in Threads features for Instagram first to compete with Twitter, which pioneered text-first social media apps. But Mosseri says the team made the “very contentious decision internally” to move the features out of Instagram. Meta’s team, according to Mosseri, found having Instagram host text posts could be confusing to users since the Twitter-like model is entirely different, where replies and original posts can be equally prominent. Comparatively, on Instagram, and other apps like YouTube and TikTok, replies are subordinated to original posts. Still, Threads is heavily linked to Instagram. You need an Instagram account to use it, and your profile on both platforms link back to each other. Instagram also adds Threads posts inside of ...
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Instagram launches its CapCut clone, Edits

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Instagram has launched Edits , a video editing app that’s intended to rival the TikTok-linked equivalent CapCut. First announced in January, Edits is available for free from today on iOS and Android . Edits is described as a “video creation app designed for creators,” and includes tools for project management, tracking notes and ideas, and data on video performance. There are also advanced editing tools not found in the regular Instagram app, like AI animations created from static images, green screen replacement, and subject cutouts. The editing features are remarkably similar to those in CapCut, a standalone video editing tool from TikTok owner ByteDance. Edits was first announced while TikTok and CapCut were both briefly unavailable on US app stores , adding to the sense that Instagram owner Meta sees CapCut as a direct competitor. When Edits was first teased , Instagram head Adam Mosseri acknowledged the similarities between the two apps but claimed o...
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Meta is ramping up its AI-driven age detection

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Meta is expanding how it uses AI to detect teens on Instagram — and, in some cases, will begin overriding account settings. Instagram announced it was using AI for age detection in 2024; the system looked for signals that users were under 18 years old, like if messages from friends say “happy 16th birthday,” for example (Meta also says it uses engagement data — people in the same age group often interact with content they see in similar ways). Teen accounts on Instagram are subject to more restrictive settings: by default, teen accounts are private, strangers aren’t able to send them messages , and Instagram limits what kind of content teens see . Last year, Instagram changed the settings for all teens on the platform so that safety features were automatically enabled. The company now says it will use AI to proactively look for teen accounts that have an adult birthday, and change settings for users it suspects are kids. In a blog post, Instagram says it will begin testing...
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Instagram Blend lets you share a Reels feed with friends

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Instagram is launching a new feature called Blend that’s a custom Reels feed shared between you and members of a DM group. If you’ve invited members of a DM chat to a Blend, then when you tap the Blend icon in a chat, Instagram will show you Reels that are suggested for people in the group. You can set up a Blend in a one-on-one conversation or in group chats, and the Blend feed will refresh with new content every day. Blend could be a useful way to see things that may be outside what is usually suggested to you. If a friend likes it, there’s a chance you might, too. But there could be a flip side to that; I wonder if a Blend could reveal things your friends like that you don’t. The launch of Blend is happening as Instagram is reportedly making a big push to take advantage of the uncertainty around TikTok’s future . It recently switched profile grids over to featuring rectangles instead of squares , and the company is working on an Instagram iPad app , according to The Inf...
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Zuckerberg’s wildest ideas in Meta’s history

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Mark Zuckerberg Making Instagram a separate company. Buying Snapchat. Wiping everyone’s Facebook friends. Creating a feed of only ads.  These were some of the ideas that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg considered over the years as he built his social media empire. Over the past two days, he talked about them from the witness stand at a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, where Meta is fighting the Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust case that could ultimately require it to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp.  Zuckerberg has so far testified for roughly nine hours. He’s expected to continue testifying on Wednesday, followed by Sheryl Sandberg. So far, the FTC has prodded him to confirm its theory of the market and understand his motivation for acquiring nascent rivals.  The FTC’s theory of the case is that Meta gobbled up newer competitors by buying Instagram and WhatsApp in the early 2010s, when it feared the...
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Zuckerberg’s antitrust testimony aired his wildest ideas in Meta’s history

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Mark Zuckerberg Making Instagram a separate company. Buying Snapchat. Wiping everyone’s Facebook friends. Creating a feed of only ads.  These were some of the ideas that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg considered over the years as he built his social media empire. Over the past two days, he talked about them from the witness stand at a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, where Meta is fighting the Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust case that could ultimately require it to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp.  Zuckerberg has so far testified for roughly nine hours. He’s expected to continue testifying on Wednesday, followed by Sheryl Sandberg. So far, the FTC has prodded him to confirm its theory of the market and understand his motivation for acquiring nascent rivals.  The FTC’s theory of the case is that Meta gobbled up newer competitors by buying Instagram and WhatsApp in the early 2010s, when it feared the...
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Meta AI will soon train on EU users’ data

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Meta has announced that it’s preparing to train AI on the data of EU users of its apps, including Facebook and Instagram. The company says that includes things like public posts, comments, and their chat history with Meta AI, but won’t include “private messages with friends and family.” It also only applies to those who are over 18, the company says. According to Meta, it will start notifying its EU users about the training this week, via in-app notifications and email, and will include a link to an objection form for those who want to opt out. You should be able to find such a link in its privacy policy , which says as of this writing that, based on regulator feedback, the company is still delaying its plans to train AI models on EU user data. Meta put its AI-training plans in Europe on hold last year after being asked to do so by Irish regulators . Meta claims it’s training AI on EU user data to help it create models that reflect the regions they’re being used in, includi...
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