This week in social media bingo, it’s a full house! X is making controversial changes, AI dominates the news, and Threads is adding new features.
Meanwhile, creators are getting creative on Instagram with classic trends like #OOTD and what’s in by bag. Plus, the world is your catwalk over on TikTok, with users turning awkward situations into fashion-worthy moments. Read on for more social media news.
Threads launches DMs
Image credit: Meta/Threads
Instagram and Threads’ conscious uncoupling continues as Threads rolls out DMs. Previously, users had to switch to Instagram to send messages, but now they will have a fresh, new inbox directly on Threads. The messaging feature will have the usual features – chats, emoji reactions, reporting spam, etc. – but will also have a new element called “highlighter”, which will show Trending Topics.
X is testing a feature to let AI chatbots generate Community Notes. The fact-checking feature usually works with users contributing comments, which are then checked by other users before appearing publicly. But who needs humans when AI can do it, right? The new AI notes will be generated by X’s Grok AI bot. Each AI note will still go through the same vetting process, meaning it will be checked by a real-life person. However, Grok has been producing some pretty biased responses recently, so this might not go down as well as X hopes.
X owner Elon Musk has announced that X is banning hashtags from ads, saying that they are an “esthetic nightmare”. Some users are happy with the update, pointing out that hashtags can distract from the actual ad and drive them away from its CTA.
Meta introduces AI chatbots that message you first
Image credit: Business Insider
Meta is working with AI experts Alignerr to train chatbots to reach out to users and follow up on any past conversations. So, if you send a chatbot over five messages, it will automatically reach out within 14 days and check in. Unlike that annoying stranger you normally find in your DMs, it won’t keep messaging if you don’t reply to the first follow-up.
