Anyone out there being a “wirch” for Halloween?… No? OK, moving on.
Facebook’s Portal device will now integrate with its Workplace platform (think Slack meets a private Facebook for just co-workers), which should be especially useful for videoconferencing.
Instagram has launched the Threads messaging app, replicating one of Snapchat’s earliest functions. The camera app is built around direct, private photo and video messaging. Instagram’s also testing an AR feature that will allow you to virtually “try on” products like eyewear and cosmetics.
Instagram will also no longer allow you to see a feed of notifications regarding the actions of people you follow - so if you want to know what they’re up to, better slide into those DMs (or Threads!).
One big advantage for Facebook of owning Instagram: if a new feature isn’t a hit on one platform, it could still work on another. Facebook’s Group Stories, discontinued a few weeks ago, is now being tested as an Instagram feature. (It is worth noting that this, too, is a feature that originated many years ago on Snapchat.)
In a recent survey of U.S. teens, YouTube beat out Netflix for the first time ever as the most preferred streaming entertainment platform.