The FCC commissioner wants to pull TikTok from app stores
This week in Hard Refresh: Social we review Instagram Reels’ API, Snap’s subscription service, Facebook NFTs, & more!
Published in
2 min readJul 1, 2022
FACEBOOK & META
- Facebook has begun selecting creators in the U.S. to test NFTs.
- The platform also has a bunch of new engagement options in Groups, including new side bar access. Fancy!
- Meta released an Instagram Reels API for developers this week.
- Instagram made a few blunders this week with a bug that was blocking abortion access content. Quite a bug.
- Since being banned from Snapchat, anonymous social apps that offer Q&A activities for teens have shifted their attention to Instagram.
SNAPCHAT
- Snapchat’s paid subscription offering is finally here at $3.99 per month.
- Twitter rolled out its closed caption toggle on iOS and Android this week, and started testing a new way to start Spaces.
- Tweetdeck for Mac is hitting the road. If you’re a user, try Tweeten.
AR, VR, & AI
- Meta is developing new spatial audio tools for AR and VR in hopes to enhance virtual experiences. Sounds pretty cool!
NOTEWORTHY
- The FCC commissioner wants to pull TikTok from Apple and Google app stores due to a growing concern over privacy and security. As a TikTok lover, I do sometimes wonder how my feed just knows EXACTLY what niche videos to serve me…
- There’s a new Pinterest CEO in town and he’s got plans to turn the platform into the internet’s shopping mall.
- YouTube has plans to disable hidden subscriber counts to combat spam comments.
