Woah woah woah. There is a lot to get through this week (and I mean a lot!). Meta has released a new app (yup, another one!), X is limiting the number of posts people can make on the app (seems like a not great idea?), and the Head of Instagram is explaining what doesn’t help with your reach (and it’s something a lot of creators do!).

Let’s get right into it!

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Yes, do we all have app fatigue? Because I know I sure do!

Last week, Meta quietly rolled out a new app called “Forum,” an app exclusively for “deeper discussions, real answers, and the communities you care about.” 

WTF does that mean?

Essentially, Facebook is building its own app for Facebook Groups. Why did they think they needed a standalone app just for group discussions? 

Oh, because of a little app called Reddit that is completely taking over Google Search (thanks to Google and Reddit’s partnership deal!). 

Because so many people trust actual humans for advice, recommendations, and more, Meta thought, “Wait! We have lots of people discussing this kind of thing in various groups, let’s dedicate a whole app just to that.”

I totally get it. As someone who tends to only go on Facebook for Facebook Groups, I don’t think a standalone app is that bad of an idea, but I also don’t want to download another app when Groups are already inside the Facebook app.

Inside the Forum app, you will find an “Ask” feature, where you can ask a question that Forum will pull from various groups to find the answer. That way, you don’t have to search each group individually for a response. 

The app is still currently in testing mode in the US and hasn’t been released worldwide. Like most Meta products, I do expect it to be released after testing, so only time will tell when that happens.

It seems over the past few weeks, people are really starting to understand how much money and marketing go into making the next big “thing.”

Basically, people of the internet are finally opening their eyes to the fact that most viral moments aren’t actually organic, but paid for. Wild, I know.

The recent articles about the band Geese being a “psyop” (sorry, babes, that’s just called digital marketing). Or that new podcast that is getting clipped over and over again to make it seem like it’s bigger than it actually is (marketing!!). Or the new Dot cake that every creator seems to be obsessing over recently (paid influencer marketing!). 

As someone who has been in this space for a long time (10 whole years … woof), it’s been surprising to me how much this has been eye-opening to the everyday scroller. 

So, for those who might know what goes into creating those viral moments or making the next big artists/moment/podcast, this piece by Vulture breaks it all down for you. 

And to deep the fake feeds even further, this episode of Shameless does a great breakdown as well.

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Until next week!

Mackenzie