We’ve got a Facebook and Instagram-heavy serving of The Scoop this month. So let’s not waste any time and get right into this social media goodness.
1. Facebook Isn’t the First Company Named “Meta”
Before choosing a name for your company, you should do some research that it is not yet registered by someone else, a small detail that Mark Zuckerberg forgot when he changed the name of Facebook to Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg loudly announced that Facebook will now be called Meta, a change to make way for its metaverse. But the tycoon could have problems adopting his new identity since there is already a company called Meta in the United States, which would be willing to give him its name in exchange for several million dollars.
The Meta PC company, dedicated to selling computers, laptops, tablets, and software, has operated for more than a year under that name, but just last August they presented the documents to convert ‘Meta’ into their trademark, reports TMZ.
However, to avoid a lawsuit, the founders of the small technology company, Joe Darger and Zack Shutt, ask for a payment of 20 million dollars to withdraw the registration application and free the name of ‘Meta’.
2. Instagram Finally Brings Back Post Previews on Twitter
A popular feature that Instagram removed nearly a decade ago is making its grand return.
Twitter users were once able to post a link to an Instagram photo and have a complete embed of that picture appear within their tweet. There was no need to send your Twitter followers to Instagram. The full photo was right there in the tweet.
In December 2012, Instagram removed that feature. The company made it pretty clear at the time that the decision was due to the fact that users were able to view Instagram content in full on one of its competitor’s services.
It’s unclear why Instagram has decided to bring back link previews now. Are Twitter Card previews now a necessary part of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse? Does the company need some positive user sentiment among all the ongoing negative press from the Facebook whistleblower leaks?
Regardless of the reason, users will also notice that the Twitter Card previews of today are different from the full-photo embeds of yesteryear. Instagram links will now show link previews much like how YouTube links appear on Twitter.
3. Instagram Launches 'Add Yours' Sticker to Facilitate More Engagement in Stories
Oh look, Instagram is once again following the lead of TikTok with a new feature, what an astounding surprise this is.
Today, Instagram has launched a new ‘Add Yours’ sticker for Stories, which enables users to prompt others to respond to their Stories content, in order to create more engaging reply threads to Stories posts.
As you can see in the image below, now, users can add the new ‘Add Yours’ sticker to their Stories frame, with the example using an ‘outfit of the day’ prompt, calling for followers to respond with their own #OOTD image.
If this sounds a lot like TikTok’s Duet feature, you’d be right! Instagram is no stranger to implementing features from other social media platforms.