Acquired by Facebook in 2012 for what is now the bargain price of $1 billion, Instagram continues to be a flagship platform within the Meta portfolio and TechCrunch continues to cover its evolution. Instagram has recently shifted its focus toward Reels, its short-form video product that is strongly reminiscent of TikTok, and its latest offshoot platform Threads, which is the company’s X challenger that could also become the wider public’s introduction to the fediverse and federated social networks.
Meta is pushing ahead with its efforts to make its generative AI-powered products available to more users. Apart from testing Meta AI chatbot with users in countries like India on…
Meta will auto-blur nudity in Instagram DMs in latest teen safety step
Meta said on Thursday that it is testing new features on Instagram intended to help safeguard young people from unwanted nudity or sextortion scams. This includes a feature called “Nudity…
Hundreds of creators sign letter slamming Meta’s limit on political content
If you haven’t been seeing much political content on Instagram lately, there’s a reason for that. Since March, Instagram and Threads have instituted a new default setting that limits political…
Meta’s X competitor Threads invites developers to sign up for API access, publishes docs
After opening its developer API to select companies for testing in March, Meta’s Twitter/X competitor Threads is now introducing developer documentation and a sign-up sheet for interested parties ahead of…
TikTok’s upcoming Instagram competitor app for sharing photos could be named TikTok Notes, according to screenshots posted by users. TikTok also confirmed the app was in development. Over the last…
Meta explains why the NYC/NJ earthquake didn’t trend earlier in the day
Despite its similarities, Instagram Threads is no X. That’s not to say people weren’t discussing the earthquake on Threads — many were.
For the second time in just over a month, Meta’s apps, including WhatsApp, and to some extent, Messenger and Instagram, faced outages and intermittent issues. While it’s rare for services…
The fediverse — the name for the social network made of interconnected servers, like Mastodon and others — got another boost of legitimacy Tuesday as the @Potus (President of the…
Instagram is developing ‘Blend,’ recommended Reels for you and a friend
Instagram is developing a “Blend” feature that creates a private feed of Reels recommended for you and a friend. The company told TechCrunch on Friday that the feature is an…
TechCrunch Minute: You’re likely seeing less news and politics on Instagram. Here’s why
As the election cycle heats up, Instagram and Threads will be cooling down the amount of political content entering many users’ feeds. These changes, which limit the reach of political…
It’s election season in the U.S., and Instagram has changed the way that it recommends political content. On both Instagram and the newer X competitor Threads, this change won’t impact…
Threads opens beta to let users connect their accounts to the fediverse
Threads has officially entered the fediverse. Meta announced on Thursday that its beta experience of sharing Threads accounts to the fediverse is now open to users ages 18 and up…
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out its “trending now” feature widely to all users in the U.S. The official rollout comes a month after the app started…
Instagram is working on a feature that would allow you to let others put a ‘Spin’ on your Reel
Instagram is working on a “Spins” feature for Reels, its short-form video TikTok clone, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. The feature, which was first spotted by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi,…
After rivaling music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple music with TikTok Music, ByteDance might be looking at creating an Instagram competitor named TikTok Photos, code found in the TikTok…
Despite distancing itself from politics, the topic is dominating Threads’ trends
Meta’s newest app Threads, a would-be Twitter/X rival, may not want politics on its platform, but it’s coming to the app anyway — or so Threads’ search trends indicate. The…
Threads now lets all users save drafts and take photos within the app
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is rolling out the ability for users to save a draft and take photos within the app. Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced the features…
Instagram has quietly added a secret emoji game that you can access in your DMs. The goal of the game is simple: Use your finger to move the paddle at…
Facebook, Instagram and Threads were all down in massive Meta outage on Super Tuesday
Reports are coming in that a number of Meta’s top social apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, are all experiencing an outage on Tuesday morning. When loading the apps or…
Google’s latest Pixel Drop will let users post high-quality photos, videos on Instagram
Google today announced its latest set of Pixel-related features for phones tablets, and watches, such as 10-bit video support for Instagram, expansion of the Circle to search feature, automatic workout…
Instagram announced today that it’s rolling out the ability for users to edit their direct messages for up to 15 minutes after sending them. The company also announced that users will…
Meta-owned social network Threads said today that it will make its API broadly available to developers by June. Engineer Jesse Chen posted that the company has been building the API…
Instagram is working on a ‘Friend Map’ feature that would let you track friends’ locations
Instagram is developing a “Friend Map” feature, a Meta spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch on Monday. The opt-in feature, which is similar to Snapchat’s Snap Map, would allow users to see…
Threads, the Twitter-like app from Instagram, is shaping up to look more like its competitor X with the recent launches of trending topics, an in-app camera, drafts, and as of…
Meta said Thursday that it has started to test two “most requested” features: drafts and in-app camera. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said that both features are available to only a…
Meta’s external advisory group, its Oversight Board, announced today that it is expanding its scope to Threads along with Facebook and Instagram to scrutinize Meta’s content moderation decisions. This means…
Instagram launches its marketplace to connect brands and creators in 8 new countries
Instagram said today that it is expanding its marketplace tool to connect brands with creators for paid partnerships or ads in eight new countries. The new markets that will get…
Yes, Threads is running a fact-checking program, but the system isn’t fully rolled out
Threads, Meta’s Twitter-like service and competitor to X, may be distancing itself from politics, but that doesn’t mean it won’t try to tackle the misinformation that spreads across social media…
In battle with X, Threads gets trending topics where politics will be allowed
After acknowledging last week that Meta’s X competitor Threads would not actively recommend political content, the company today announced a test of a new trends feature, “topics,” where such content…
Instagram and Threads will no longer ‘proactively’ recommend political content
Meta doesn’t want its new app Threads to become another Twitter, full of heated political debates and the resulting toxicity that entails. In an announcement today, the company detailed how…