Facebook, feed me: Prioritize who you see first in your news feed. It’s easiest on your computer. Start by clicking your profile picture in the top right. Select Settings & privacy > Feed. Next, tap Favorites to select people and pages you want to prioritize.
Amping up your followers: Instagram’s algorithm is changing to promote original content over people reposting others (aka aggregator accounts). If you’re trying to build an audience on IG, you’ll want to post more videos or Reels. That’s why I’ve been doing just that on my IG account here.
28 million people use Meta’s Threads each day
That’s 27% more than X’s 22 million daily users. More people still use X each month, but the daily active user count is a better indicator. Point: Zuckerberg. Musk, your move.
To die for: Watch out for ambiguous-sounding Facebook posts, like, “It won’t be the same without him” or “I can’t believe he is gone.” That’s a big red flag your connection’s account got hacked and the scammer’s setting you (and other connected friends and family) up to steal account creds — or money.
Fake ads are taking over Facebook: A Broward County, Florida, family found strangers at their front door, claiming they paid a $250 deposit to rent a car parked in the driveway. It turns out crooks had secretly snapped pics and posted them on Facebook Marketplace. After they turned the renters away, someone came back and vandalized the car. Ridiculous.
Latest Instagram craze: “Grid Zero” is the term for Gen Zers deliberately hiding their entire photo grid. The reason makes sense to me: They’re frustrated with everything in life being documented. Instead, they’re opting for temporary Stories and DMs.
Just days away: The House just passed the TikTok sell-or-ban bill again, but with a twist: It was bundled with urgent foreign aid bills supporting Ukraine and Israel, plus humanitarian support for Gaza. Next stop? The Senate, and, if it passes there, to President Biden’s desk for approval.
I love you just the weigh you are: Folks on social media are pushing Ozempic but hush-hush about its nasty side effects. Karen Evans (paywall link), for instance, never mentioned that severe vomiting made her quit the drug. Get this: Health influencers with under 100,000 followers are making $10,000 and up promoting Ozempic. Influences with over a million followers? They’re making $50,000 to $125,000 per post.
This weekend, the House will vote on a revised bill that could ban Communist China app TikTok. The updated terms give owner ByteDance a year to sell — double the original six months — to sway fence-sitters in the Senate.
Elons just wanna have funds: Musk says the only way to fight bots on X is to charge for posts. New users might have to pay a “small fee” to post the first three months their X account is active. This comes one month before Tesla’s stockholders vote to bring back Musk’s $56 billion compensation package. I’ll take the job for $5.6 billion.
😨 School alarms: A 13-year-old girl accepted a friend request on TikTok from a classmate … who then grabbed a pic of her face, put it on a nude body using AI software and shared the images with groups of guys. If I had a young child, they wouldn’t be on social media until college. The NY Times (paywall link) has a great read about this epidemic.
Practice safe sexts: Instagram says they’re going to start blurring naked pics in direct messages for anyone under age 18. Those who attempt to send a nude via DM will be advised to be “cautious.” Once again, social media tries to come off as a good citizen when it’s the problem.
A Kentucky dad diagnosed with stage IV renal cell cancer didn’t have the five years docs said it would take to get a new kidney. His wife turned to Facebook for help. A kind stranger responded, turned out to be a perfect match and voila — the surgery was a success! Dad says, “She’s like family now.”
Google who? Gen Z is dumping Google for social media. Just 46% of 18- to 24-year-olds start with Google for their searches; 21% head to TikTok and 5% to YouTube for answers first. They say they want to hear from real people, not advertisers.
Haulin’ oats: TikTok’s latest weight loss fad is “oatzempic” — a mixture of oats, water and lime juice folks claim helps you lose 40 pounds in two months. A little extra fiber never hurts, but spoiler: This is an overhyped trend, not a weight loss miracle.
🪐 Share with your parent friends: The Snapchat+ Solar System feature is tearing apart teen friendships. It ranks how close you are to your friends based on how often you interact. Think you’re someone’s Mercury, only to find out you’re more of a Uranus? Upsetting for sure. Talk to your kids about this new feature — it’s important for their mental health.
Save your TikToks: I can’t tell you if the government’s TikTok ban will happen, but it’s not a bad time to download your videos if you use the app. Doing it from a desktop is easier than on a phone. Right-click on a video you want to save and select Download Video.
Using Facebook for events? Make sure someone who isn’t invited won’t see the post. From your Home Feed, click Events > Create New Event. Add the details, click Privacy, then select Private. You can’t change this setting after the event is created, so double-check.
X is on a bobsled to hell: Wondering where to spend your social media time, especially if you’re in business? You have to see this chart that compares how X is doing compared to other social media platforms. Dang, it’s bad … really bad.
📱 Want to be the groovy, hip parent? Talk to your kids about Xiaohongshu (paywall link). Pronounced “shau-hong-shu,” the platform is like Instagram and Reddit had a baby, and it’s where peeps get honest feedback on everything from their fashion choices to nose shape. Yup, another Communist China app for our kids.