Instagram Plus may tempt creators, but WhatsApp Plus is an easier skip
Meta is bringing paid features to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Instagram Plus may appeal to creators and heavy users, while WhatsApp Plus looks harder to justify.
X wants to stop creators from farming stolen viral clips for easy money
X is cracking down on repost accounts and content thieves by reducing payouts and shifting engagement credit back toward original creators.
The police have entered the chat and they want social media bans for users under 16
UK police are done waiting for tech companies to act and are now pushing the government to block under-16s from unsafe platforms entirely.
Social media is stealing your happiness one scroll at a time
The World Happiness Report found that the more time you spend on social media, the greater the loss to your well-being, and young people in the West are feeling it the most.
Meta built a Reddit rival out of Facebook Groups
Meta’s new Forum app turns Facebook Groups into a standalone hub for questions, recommendations, and AI-powered search, giving the company a Reddit-like test built from communities it already owns.
AI is turbocharging “wizards” on 4Chan who take orders to nudify images of women
A new ISD analysis and WIRED reporting show how 4chan users are turning nonconsensual AI nudes into a repeatable system built on requests, status, and private-platform spillover.
Big tech is finally taking child safety seriously, but TikTok and YouTube are lagging behind
Snap, Meta, and Roblox have agreed to introduce new anti-grooming measures after Ofcom's public call for action, but TikTok and YouTube still have a lot of explaining to do.
LinkedIn is coming for AI slop, and it’s about time the platform took action
LinkedIn is rolling out systems to detect generic AI-generated posts and automated comments, reducing their reach beyond immediate networks.
Spotted a mistake on your Instagram Story? You can finally edit it after posting
Instagram is finally rolling out Edit Story, a long-requested feature that lets users make changes to a Story after it has been posted.
Meta is testing an AI bot to unleash the same online stupidity that is AskGrok on X
Meta is testing an AI bot on Threads that works just like Grok on X, responding publicly to user mentions in conversations.
You can’t block Meta’s AI bot on Threads. I don’t know what we did to deserve this.
Threads users are furious after discovering Meta's new AI chatbot cannot be blocked like any other account on the platform.
Instagram’s teen crackdown moves from DMs to feeds
Instagram’s new supervision tools will show parents which topics shape teen recommendations, moving Meta’s safety push beyond private messages and deeper into the feed that keeps young users scrolling.
WhatsApp is getting iOS 26’s Liquid Glass glow-up, and it’s surprisingly gorgeous
WhatsApp is rolling out its iOS 26 Liquid Glass redesign to some users, bringing translucent tabs, refreshed buttons, smoother animations, and updated menus.
TikTok is going ad-free. At a monthly fee, of course.
TikTok has launched TikTok Ad-Free in the UK, a £3.99 monthly subscription that removes ads from your feed and stops your data being used for advertising.
Social media pals aren’t necessarily making you feel less lonely, finds research
New study of more than 1,500 adults found online connections with strangers were linked to higher loneliness, while real-life contacts offered no clear reduction.
Internet’s favorite app Vine is back from the dead, and it’s called Divine
Divine, a Vine reboot backed by Jack Dorsey, is now available on the App Store and Google Play Store, bringing back 500,000 archived Vine videos and letting creators post new ones.
Social media scams caused over two billion dollars in losses to consumers last year
FTC data shows consumers lost $2.1 billion to social media scams in 2025, with Facebook driving the highest reported losses and investment, shopping, and romance scams leading the damage.
X introduces XChat messaging app for iPhone users
X has launched XChat on iOS, a standalone messaging app aimed at expanding its ecosystem and competing with established chat platforms through privacy-focused features and social integration.
If you think running a celebrity fan page on social media is a cakewalk, think again
Running a celebrity fan page isn’t as easy as it looks. What looks like harmless fandom online often turns into a full-time, high-pressure commitment.
X is closing communities. But hey, you now have custom timelines and group chats
X is closing its Communities feature and replacing it with AI-powered custom timelines and expanded group chats, shifting focus to real-time and personalized interactions.
Instagram’s new Instants app is basically Snapchat all over again
Instagram launches Instants, a new app for sharing disappearing photos and videos, offering a Snapchat-like experience focused on private, real-time interactions.
Meta will let parents see children’s chats with AI and intervene before risks spiral
Meta has launched an Insights tab in its supervision hub, letting parents of teens see weekly AI conversation topics across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram.
YouTube is coming for celebrity deepfakes with new AI likeness detection tech
YouTube is expanding its AI likeness detection technology to talent agencies, managers, and celebrities to help identify and remove deepfakes
Meta wants you to pay for WhatsApp now, and it’s already testing the waters
Meta may soon charge for WhatsApp Plus, though the appetite for premium features is still questionable.
Tinder wants to check your humanity by gazing into an orb. Yes, you read that right
Tinder now lets you prove you are human by scanning your irises at a physical orb device made by Sam Altman's World.
I didn’t expect food reels to help my diet – but they might
Watching food videos may help dieters reduce cravings and avoid overeating, according to new research.
AI dating sounds efficient – but I’m not fully convinced
AI agents are being developed to handle dating interactions, raising questions about authenticity and compatibility.
Google Messages is about to get a tad zesty in your chats
Your boring text bubbles are about to get a glow-up.
Social media is robbing your time, even in the ripe retirement phase
Retirees are increasingly spending large portions of their free time on smartphones and social media.
Google Messages gets a Trash folder for your unimportant chats to simmer in
Google Messages has added a Trash folder that gives deleted conversations a 30-day recovery window before they are permanently removed.
X’s Grok AI now breaks language barriers and lets you edit photos using simple prompts
X is rolling out Grok-powered automatic translation and an AI photo editor that lets you tweak images with simple prompts.
Your random food photos finally have a purpose thanks to Google Maps
Those Google Maps reviews? Oh, they do matter.
X just added a much better built-in photo editor
X is rolling out a more capable image editor inside its post composer, finally adding basic tools like drawing, text overlays, and redaction-style blur.
WhatsApp calls are about to get a lot better with noise cancellation
WhatsApp has started testing a built-in noise cancellation option for voice and video calls, aiming to make conversations clearer in noisy places.
Your LinkedIn session might not be as private as you think
A new report claims LinkedIn scans over 6,000 Chrome extensions and collects device data using hidden scripts, raising major privacy concerns.
Hoping AI can fix your dating life? This actor’s story says otherwise
Actor and writer Rhik Samadder let AI write his dating profile, messages, and conversation prompts, only to find that chatbot confidence falls apart fast in real-world dating.
If TikTok doomscrolling wasn’t bad enough, it now serves an emoji game in DMs
TikTok has rolled out a secret emoji game in DMs globally, letting users challenge friends without ever leaving the app.
WhatsApp support for CarPlay is right around the corner
I’ve been a loyal CarPlay user for years, so this update feels long overdue. WhatsApp is finally working on a proper app for CarPlay, and it’s about time. Until now, all I could do was see notifications pop up on the dashboard, with zero real interaction beyond that. The catch is, it’s still in testing […]