The internet has been transformed by social media, and the many platforms are now critical to how we communicate online. The Verge keeps a close eye on everything that’s happening in the social media landscape, covering key players like Meta, X, and TikTok, reporting on new features, following cultural moments, and breaking down the policies that shape how the platforms work.
Mahmoud Khalil is a legal permanent resident. That didn’t stop ICE.
For those of you who don’t know Latin: Zuck’s tee is “aut Zuck aut nihil,” a play on “aut Caesar aut nihil,” which means “Zuck or nothing.” Graber’s tee is “mundus sine caesaribus,” or “a world without Caesars.” We love a woman who can shitpost IRL.
Meta AI fans on Android will soon be able to get to the chatbot more quickly via WhatsApp. A widget is in the works offering direct shortcuts to open the chat with the AI, send an image to it, or begin a voice chat. Some WhatsApp beta users already have the widgets available, though no date’s been set for an official launch.
Meta is reportedly working on a standalone AI app too.
The new State Department program, called “Catch and Revoke,” will use AI to review the social media accounts of tens of thousands of students who are in the US on visas, Axios reports. State Department sources tell Axios that officials plan on combing through internal databases to see if any international students were arrested in pro-Palestine demonstrations since October 2023 — and that the department is working with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure a “whole of government and whole of authority approach.”
Rubio, the new Secretary of State, has been calling for the revocation of student visas for pro-Palestine protesters since October 2023.
My colleague Chris Welch spotted that the tab had been pinned to the top of his home screen in the iOS app, beckoning him to stick with Threads for the latest news on the awards show, which is starting in less than an hour at 7PM ET.
I don’t have it, but it’s not unusual for Threads to test the waters before rolling features out to everyone.
Ahh MySpace. A website from simpler times when the worst you had to worry about from social media was falling out with the friend that didn’t make your Top 8. It has since puttered along morphing into something completely unrecognizable...until now. Game designer Ste Curran has created SkySpace, a website that’ll take your Bluesky profile and make it into a MySpace page complete with a customizable background, a Top 8 you can set, and even a music plugin.
The mostly free Flashes app launched today, integrating into the X expats’ favorite Bluesky and letting users publish up to four photos or a 1-minute-long video per post. Though off to a slightly bumpy start, it’s currently #9 in the Social Networking category on the Apple App Store. It even has vibrant filters, if you have no respect for your work.
[bsky.app]
The three apps join others available in the Opera One browser’s sidebar, like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram — using them there keeps them from taking up precious browser tab real estate. Users can enable or disable these to keep the sidebar from being junked up with services you never use.
The new integrations are available in the latest update, which you can find here.
This Wall Street Journal reports that beyond suing an ad group for an “illegal” boycott, X lawyers and executives have indicated that brands need to spend more on the Elon Musk-owned platform “or else.”
Ruben Schreurs, the CEO of an ad consulting firm, Ebiquity, is quoted saying the reason brands are choosing the route of spending a minimum viable amount on X is “Not because they want to advertise there and run their ads adjacent to the content on X, but because they are afraid of legal and political ramifications of not doing so.”
Bluesky announced it’s rolling out an X-like “followers only” option for replies to posts, in addition to options for limiting replies to people mentioned or people you follow. To enable the feature for all of your posts by default, update your app to version 1.98 and then head over to Interaction Settings under Moderation in the app’s Settings section.
The social networking platform has also added a new “search posts” feature for user profiles.
A spokesperson told TechCrunch that Tumblr will join the open social web once it finishes its move to WordPress.
When the migration is complete, Tumblr users will be able to federate their blogs through ActivityPub. Users may even gain access to “other open web integrations,” such as the ability to “run other custom plug-ins or themes,” TechCrunch reports.
The Vice President, along with National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, has been tasked with “quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok” before President Trump’s enforcement pause deadline arrives in April, according to Punchbowl News.
The Wall Street Journal backs that up, saying Trump gave Vance the job, counting on his (reportedly unimpressive) venture capitalist background to get the deal done.
[punchbowl.news]
Adweek reports media buyers and marketers are “eager” to test the new ad features on Threads, hoping for new audiences and lower ad costs. Ads launched with a “handful of brands” last month.
Advertisers don’t seem deterred by Meta’s much publicized loosening of its content moderation policies, even as X expands a lawsuit against advertisers it says boycotted the network over fears for brand safety after Elon Musk’s takeover.
Meta’s CEO agonized about leaks, defended working with Trump, and gushed about AI and smart glasses.
Tapping on the new feature gives you a dedicated feed of all the images and videos posted by the account you’re viewing — including your own. Instagram head Adam Mosseri says the Threads media tab has rolled out globally, alongside the ability to tag people in the photos you share, and a “markup” feature that allows users to highlight or draw on quoted posts.
It also has more than 320 million monthly active users, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on today’s earnings call. Last night, Bluesky announced that it surpassed 30 million total users.
During the call, CFO Susan Li also said that Meta is working on “a number of updates to our recommendation systems” for Threads.
[Meta Investor Relations]
During Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings call today, Mark Zuckerberg kept dropping hints about big plans for Facebook. He’s focused on making it more “culturally influential.” He even suggested that some changes could hurt the business in the short term. The goal is to “get back to how Facebook was used back in the day.” So, more of stalking your classmates and less AI Shrimp Jesus?
The platform crossed the milestone last night, and it happened about a month and a half after the 25 million mark. Bluesky still has a long way to go to pass Threads, though; Meta’s platform has more than 100 million daily active users.
Asked by reporters if Microsoft is in talks to take over TikTok’s US arm, the president was succinct: “I would say yes.” The company is reported to be among several investors, including Oracle, working on a joint bid. Microsoft previously tried to buy the social site back in 2020, which CEO Satya Nadella called the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.”
[Bloomberg.com]
Bluesky’s video posts are still limited to just one minute, but they should be easier to find outside of feeds now that you can simply swap to that tab to see any videos that someone has posted.
Otherwise, the team says its new 1.97 update has added a quick menu to block and/or delete a conversation after reporting a DM.
Some advertisers see Meta pulling back from moderation as a signal they should stop pushing social media outlets to keep hate speech in check, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some have reportedly already stepped back:
...the Association of National Advertisers, [which] represents major advertisers such as Procter & Gamble, AT&T and General Motors, quietly ended a brand-safety effort called “Engage Responsibly,” partly to avoid scrutiny or litigation...
After sharing some screenshots of the feature earlier this month, Alessandro Paluzzi shared a couple more of the feature today.
If you want to join the Community Notes waitlist, you can do that here.
From Alessandro Paluzzi, who recently posted screenshots of how writing Community Notes might look like on Threads, too.
Dozens of subreddits announced they’re banning links to posts on X, following Elon Musk’s appearance at a Donald Trump event where he made a gesture that looks a lot like a Nazi salute.
r/NBA is taking the X ban a step further and will also ban links to Meta platforms, moderators announced today.
