TECH CRUNCH - Meta is starting to test closed spaces called "members-only worlds" in Horizon Worlds, its social VR experience. The company has begun a limited alpha test to allow creators to grow and moderate their communities. Meta has selected a small group of creators to build and obtain feedback about members-only worlds.
113 posts categorized "Meta"
Meta Starts Testing 'Members-only Worlds' in Horizon Worlds
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Meta Is Killing Move, an Experimental Social App from Its In-House R&D Group
TECH CRUNCH - Meta is killing off yet another project from its in-house R&D group, the NPE Team, following the company's sizable layoffs in Nov, impacting 13% of its workforce. The latest experiment to be wound down is the social to-do list app called Move, launched last spring, which allowed users to earn points for completing tasks on either their personal or group to-do lists. These points, in turn, could be used to customize an alpaca avatar with accessories.
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Meta Centralizes More User and Privacy Settings Across Its Apps and Changes Ads Controls
TECH CRUNCH - Meta announced it's further centralizing various user settings across its suite of apps - Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. As a result, several existing settings will be relocated to Meta's "Accounts Center" feature. It's also making changes aimed at allowing people to better understand their options when it comes to ads shown by Meta on other websites and apps and is exploring different ways of allowing users to customize these experiences.
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Meta Sues Surveillance Firm for Stealing User Data
THE HINDU - Meta has filed legal action against "scraping-for-hire" service Voyager Labs for secretly collecting massive amounts of personal data from users of social networking sites including Facebook and Instagram. Voyager labs created and used ~38K fake Facebook user accounts and its surveillance software to scrape ~600K Facebook users' viewable profile information.
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Meta Hires Former Tata Cliq CEO as Director of Global Business Group in India
WIO NEWS - Meta appoints former Tata Cliq CEO Vikas Purohit as the Director of Global Business Group in India. In the new role, Purohit will lead Meta's strategic relationship with various brands and agencies in bolstering the company's digital tools for revenue growth in India's business. Vikas Purohit comes with over 20 years of experience and worked previously with big league brands such as Tata Cliq, Amazon, Reliance brands, Aditya Birla group, and Tommy Hilfiger.
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Meta Faces Exsanguination by Small Fines
REUTERS - Ireland's data privacy regulator fined Meta $419M for improperly serving personalized ads without what it considered sufficient consent. European digital rules protecting customers leave room for more. The Irish regulator has another 11 inquiries open into Meta's services. Meta can perhaps avoid these and appeals could reduce fines.
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How Meta Lay-offs Will Impact Social Media Marketing in 2023
CLICKZ - Meta has made 11K layoffs. Like many other brands, Apple's changes to its data privacy policies have disrupted Meta's revenue model. It has also lost "focus" by investing heavily in the Metaverse, absorbing ~$10B in R&D spending per quarter. Brands may need to redirect or pause 2023 ad spend in the platform until it has been refined.
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Meta Agrees to Pay $725M to Settle Privacy Suit
AFP - Meta has agreed to pay $725M to settle a long-running lawsuit that accused the social network of allowing third parties to access users' private data. Facebook has not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which still requires approval by a judge in the San Francisco division of the US District Court.
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Meta 'Breached EU Antitrust Rules' on Facebook Ads
AFP - Meta appears to have "breached EU antitrust rules" in the online classified section of its Facebook social network, the European Commission said in a preliminary finding. "The Commission takes issue with Meta tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its social network, Facebook," it said in a statement. "The Commission is also concerned that Meta is imposing unfair trading conditions on Facebook Marketplace's competitors for its benefit."
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Meta Is Shutting Down Its Cameo-like 'Super' App in February
TECH CRUNCH - Meta has announced that it's shutting down its Cameo-like app, Super, on Feb 15, 2023. This feature, which was launched in 2020, lets users create a virtual meet-and-greet experience that was similar to the experience at a real-life event like VidCon or Comic-Con. Although Super won't officially shut down until February, users won't be able to create a new event during the shutdown period.
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Meta Scales Back on New York Office Space Amid Company Restructuring
CNET - Amid company-wide layoffs, Meta is scaling back its office spaces in New York's Hudson Yards. The decision to return its two towers in Manhattan's Hudson Yards comes as the media company explores options for cutting costs, initiating a hiring freeze, and tightening its workforce. The company expects to lose ~$2B on office consolidation cited in Meta's Q3 earnings call.
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Meta Hit With $275M Fine Over Scraped Facebook Data
CNET - Europe's GDPR strikes again after personal Facebook data, including phone numbers, was found on the internet in 2021. Meta has been caught failing to abide by Europe's privacy rules, resulting in the Irish Data Protection Commission slapping the social media giant with a $275M fine.
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Russia's Justice Ministry Adds Meta to 'Extremist' List
REUTERS - Russia's justice ministry added Meta to its register of extremist organizations. A Russian court earlier this year ruled Meta had engaged in "extremist activity." Moscow has restricted access to Facebook and Instagram as part of a campaign against Western social media platforms.
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Mark Zuckerberg Said He Missed a Giant Shift in Social Networking
CNBC - People are increasingly using their social networking "feeds" to discover compelling content as opposed to viewing the media shared by the friends that they follow. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg referred to TikTok as a "very effective competitor." It's important for Meta to develop AI that can recommend a range of content including photos and text to users besides just short videos, he said.
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Meta Is Preparing to Notify Employees of Large-Scale Layoffs
WALL STREET JOURNAL - Meta is planning to begin large-scale layoffs this week in what could be the largest round in a recent spate of tech job cuts after the industry's rapid growth during the pandemic. Social media company's planned cuts are expected to affect many thousands of its workforce.
by Jeff Horwitz & Salvador Rodriguez
See full article at Wall Street Journal
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