By Vee Tan, Jeremy Lim, and Rodrigo Bonilla 


Watch Party rolls out globally


Despite being launched in August last year, Facebook Watch hasn’t quite seen the success the platform envisioned. However, in an effort to increase usage, the platform has returned to Facebook’s social roots, with the official launch of Watch Party.

Watch Party allows co-viewing, meaning groups of users can tune in and comment on the same video at the same time. For a more engaging community experience, hosts of Watch Parties will also be able to simultaneously stream their reactions to the video. Pages and Groups will also be able to take advantage of Watch Parties and schedule Watch events for their followers.



 

YouTube launches YouTube Stories to more creators

YouTube is rolling out a Stories feature to users – but only to those who have at least 10,000 subscribers. Unlike its equivalent on WhatsApp or Instagram, YouTube Stories will be available for seven days, during which viewers are free to comment, ask questions, or give a thumb up or thumb down. To create a story, users simply have to tap on the video camera icon within the mobile app.



 

Tumblr goes PG-13

Tumblr, a popular microblogging and social networking website, is removing its adult content starting December 17th. Like most social networks, Tumblr continues to struggle with inappropriate content of all kinds. Facebook itself recently reported removing nearly 9 million user images of child nudity using a machine learning tool. Tumblr will likewise use algorithms to flag and delete explicit posts, but will still give users the chance to appeal any potential errors made by the system.