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☆ Mark Zuckerberg said its Threads community is 'on the trajectory I expect' despite its plummeting daily user base
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg said its Threads user base is "on the trajectory I expect" despite many users leaving already. The Meta chief said it has been a "good week for Threads" in a post on the text-based app. Mark Zuckerberg said it has been a "good week" for Meta's new social network Threads in spite of its daily active user base plummeting since its launch. The data showed it had 8 million users at the end of July, down from a high of 44 million days after Threads launched on July 5. Zuckerberg wrote in a Threads post: "A good week for Threads.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, Meta didn't

☆ Shredded Zuck is eating 4,000 calories per day, apparently including McDonald's Quarter Pounder, apple pie, and McFlurry
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mark Zuckerberg says he's eating 4,000 calories per day, 1.6 times more than the recommended intake. Apparently this includes McDonald's staples like the Quarter Pounder, fries, and McFlurry. After McDonald's posted on Threads for followers' favorite orders, Zuckerberg responded: "20 nuggets, a quarter pounder, large fries, Oreo McFlurry, apple pie, and maybe some cheeseburgers for later?" But Zuck said he needed around 4,000 calories a day to maintain his weight during his current training regime. Meta didn't respond to Insider's request for comment to confirm if their fitness-loving boss did go ahead with his McDonald's order.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg's, Meta, Lex Fridman, McDonald's, Zuckerberg, Mike Davis, Davis, Elon Musk, Zuck, Michael Phelps, isn't Phelps Organizations: UFC

☆ Amazon employees leak secret info that marketplace sellers can buy on Telegram
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

For a fee of $200 to $400, sellers can pay for services like "Amazon Magic," as one broker on encrypted messaging service Telegram calls it. The Telegram group has over 13,000 members, and it's far from the only one. A public Facebook page identified by CNBC offers an internal screenshot service with "valuable insight into your seller account, allowing you to see how Amazon employees view your account and its performance." Account annotations, internal notes from an Amazon staffer on a seller's account, were among the confidential data being exchanged between the defendants and employees. The Amazon Magic group on Telegram is public, with users advertising black hat services almost daily.

Persons: Johnny Milano, Christy Distefano, Remi Vaughn Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Telegram, Facebook Groups, Walmart, CNBC, Facebook, Amazon ., LinkedIn, Amazon, Street Journal, Department of Justice, FBI Locations: Melville , New York, China, India, Costa Rica, Ukraine

☆ Peter Thiel paid staff an extra $1,000 a month if they lived close to the office so they were more likely to work late, book says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Peter Thiel paid staff an extra $1,000 a month if they lived near the office, a former worker said. The billionaire investor offered it so staff "were more likely to stay late," Michael Gibson wrote. Gibson made the claim in his book "Paper Belt on Fire: The Fight for Progress in an Age of Ashes." Peter Thiel offered his staff a monthly bonus of $1,000 if they lived close to the office, according to a former employee of the billionaire investor. It also offered employees with families a one-off payment of at least $15,000 for housing.

Persons: Peter Thiel, Michael Gibson, Gibson, Thiel, Meta, Davis Polk, Wardwell, they're, Insider's Aaron Mok, Meta didn't Organizations: Employees, Palantir Technologies, Guardian, Bloomberg, Facebook, Street Journal, ARC Locations: San Francisco, Menlo Park, Silicon Valley, ZipRecruiter

☆ Llamas don't drink much water. Meta's new AI version is damn thirsty.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Meta just released a big new AI model called Llama 2. Meta didn't disclose how much water it used to train this AI model. Ren took that and looked at how efficient Meta data centers are when it comes to using energy and water. That yielded his estimate, which he said is almost double the water footprint of Meta's previous big AI model, Llama 1, which came out earlier this year. Meta's data centers used just over 5 million cubic meters of water in 2021.

Persons: Meta, Shaolei Ren, Ren, He's, didn't Organizations: Alpaca Association, UC Riverside, Meta Locations: Arizona

☆ A 23-year-old game developer grew her Instagram audience to nearly 100,000 followers after being laid off from Meta. Here's how she makes money, the 1-page media kit she uses, and what she charges bra
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Her passion for making gaming content soon became a business. Working at Meta didn't unlock all of the secrets to success on Instagram, Pitcher noted. On top of brand deals, Pitcher said she makes a little bit of cash through TikTok's ad-revenue program on videos. "I've been hearing from a lot of creators that brand deals are drying up, so knowing that, I want to expand." She said she's also still in the process of developing a new video game, but that is years away.

Persons: Emily Pitcher, Pitcher, Emily, —, she's, Kat Liente, isn't, I've Organizations: Meta, Sondering, YouTube Locations: Meta, Instagram

☆ Twitter traffic is 'tanking' as Meta's Threads hits 100 million users
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, the Threads logo by META is displayed on a smartphone with Twitter logo in the background. User traffic on Twitter has slowed since the launch of Meta 's text-based platform Threads, which has already surpassed 100 million sign-ups since its debut last week. "Threads reached 100 million sign ups over the weekend. The company said Twitter's web traffic is down 11% compared with the same days in 2022. Threads reached the 100 million milestone even faster than OpenAI's generative chatbot ChatGPT, which surpassed 100 million monthly users in two months.

Persons: Adam Mosseri, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Matthew Prince, Similarweb, Mosseri, Elon Musk, Alex Spiro, Zuckerberg Organizations: Meta, Twitter Locations: U.S, Europe

☆ AI is making a big impact on influencer marketing and industry insiders are debating how to label and regulate it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

According to a survey from influencer-marketing agency Izea, 86% of internet users believe that AI-generated content broadly should be disclosed. And regulating AI disclosure might be easier said that done, industry insiders said, as AI might soon pervade nearly all aspects of content creation. There's a very fine line between AI-generated virtual influencers and AI-assisted real influencers, so where does the labeling begin and end?" On the platform side, it's unclear if or when any steps will be taken to label AI content. "AI content is so easy to mass produce and improving so rapidly that we will struggle with labeling all the AI content out there, it will be easier to label what isn't made by AI," he said.

Persons: Ogilvy, Ogilvy influencer, — Ogilvy, Shah Rukh Khan, Lu —, Cameron Ajdari, It's, Izea, pervade, Emma Downer, Downer, Cynthia Ruff, Lia Haberman, There's, Avi Gandhi, Pinterest, Alasdair Mann, Mann Organizations: WPP, UCLA, YouTube, Meta

☆ Efforts to label AI content in influencer marketing are gaining steam, but industry insiders warn regulation will face hurdles
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

☆ Meta's heated rivalry with Apple enters new phase as the tech giants go after headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

But Apple hasn't said exactly when Vision Pro will be available, only that it will be early next year. Meta's Quest family of VR headsets include the $300 Quest 2 and the $500 Quest 3, which will be available in the fall. Apple CEO Tim Cook stands next to the new Apple Vision Pro headset is displayed during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 05, 2023 in Cupertino, California. And Apple has its own new operating system for the Vision Pro that it's calling visionOS. "And we believe Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary platform that can make our vision a reality."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Nagle, Leo Gebbie, hasn't, Zuckerberg, Cook, Tim Cook, Justin Sullivan, visionOS, Bob Iger, Iger, We're, Meta didn't Organizations: Meta, Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, CCS, Vision, VR, Labs, Apple, Google, Facebook, Apple Vision, Apple Worldwide, Disney Locations: New York, Covid, Cupertino , California, Brussels

☆ A former Meta recruiter paid about $200,000 a year says her team 'did nothing' as there 'really wasn't enough work'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Meta talent sourcer, Maddie Machado, says "there wasn't enough work" for her team. "It was a whole team of recruiters doing nothing because of an inefficient process," she said. A former Meta employee says there "wasn't enough work" to do and her entire team was often "doing nothing" while she was at the company. "I wasn't just sitting around and not doing anything for $200,000; it was a whole team of recruiters doing nothing because of an inefficient process," she said. She added that there "really wasn't enough work" for her team.

☆ A former Meta recruiter paid about $200,000 a year says her team 'did nothing' as there 'really wasn't enough work:' report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Meta talent sourcer said "there wasn't enough work" for her team, per The Independent. A former Meta employee said there "wasn't enough work" to do and that her entire team were often "doing nothing", The Independent reported. She added that there "really wasn't enough work" for her team. Machado previously told Insider that she outlined the employee benefits she received at Meta on her TikTok account, in a video that's since been deleted. Three months after the "fantastic" onboarding process, her team discovered that a limited talent pool "didn't want to work for Facebook", she claims.

☆ Meta explores ban on political ads in Europe - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 30 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) executives are discussing a company-wide ban on political advertising in Europe due to concerns that Facebook and Instagram will be unable to comply with upcoming EU regulations targeting online campaigns, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. EU lawmakers in February agreed to tougher rules on targeted political advertising aimed at countering misinformation during elections. The proposed rules require U.S. tech giants to provide more data on their targeted political ads, with fines up to 4% of their global turnover for breaches. Meta executives are concerned the definition of political ads under EU plans will be excessively broad that it will be easier to refuse all paid-for political campaigns on the company's sites, the newspaper said, citing two people briefed on the discussions. Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Meta worker found out she'd lost her 'dream job' in an email sent at 5:55 a.m. and said 'it's been a tough morning'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Meta worker found out she lost her "dream job" in an email sent at 5:55 a.m.Jenny Saxton said in a LinkedIn post Wednesday that she hasn't "fully processed" the news yet. The recruiter said it was a "tough morning" and she'd been experiencing a "wave of emotions". Jenny Saxton revealed in a LinkedIn post that she'd lost her job in the second mass layoffs at Meta this week. "Meta was my dream company and dream job. Are you a Meta employee who's lost their job in the latest layoffs?

☆ Americans want to delete Instagram more than any other app
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

There are a lot of reasons why you might want to delete a popular app from their phone — and you're far from alone. Popular social media apps Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat garnered the most internet searches from people looking to delete those apps over a recent six-month period, according to an analysis of search trends from cybersecurity website VPNOverview. During that period, there were more than 900,000 searches for how to "delete" or "deactivate" Instagram, more than any of the country's 30 most popular apps by downloads, VPNOverview said in its February report. And in recent years, polls have shown growing distrust of popular social media platforms over issues like disinformation, cyberbullying, phishing scams, privacy concerns and data mining. And, while the majority of teens today are willing to take breaks from social media, they're also mostly split on whether they could give up social media altogether.

☆ Meta VP tells staff to make the metaverse 'so obviously successful' that his dad stops calling every week to ask about it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Meta VP told staff to "buckle down" and "build great products" for the metaverse, per The Verge. Only one in 10 users reportedly come back to its Horizon metaverse platform after a month. The VP reportedly said he wants the metaverse and VR to be "so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask" about it. "And please, let's make the metaverse and VR so obviously successful that my dad stops calling me every week to ask me about it," he reportedly added. But only time will tell if Meta's products will keep users active in the metaverse.

☆ Instagram may be planning to offer a paid subscription model called 'Meta Verified'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Instagram could be planning a paid subscription service called Meta Verified. A screenshot of the Instagram Help Center page on Meta Verified. It also said users who bought Meta Verified would not have it applied to their Facebook account as well. The help center page on eligibility, which has also been taken down, showed that users must be at least 18 to be eligible for a Meta Verified subscription. In December Twitter introduced its premium subscription, Twitter Blue, for the second time since Elon Musk took control of the company.

☆ Meta is asking some managers and directors to move to roles that don't involve any managing, or quit the company, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta is asking managers and directors to move to different roles or quit, sources told Bloomberg. It wants these staff to switch to other roles which don't involve managing people, per Bloomberg. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on February 1 that 2023 will be the "year of efficiency" for Meta. People familiar with the matter told the outlet that the company wants these staff to transition to individual contributor jobs, which don't involve managing other people, in its bid to improve efficiency and become more nimble. Zuckerberg told investors in Meta's most recent quarterly earnings call on February 1 that 2023 will be the "year of efficiency" for the company.

☆ A laid-off Meta worker says she's struggling after not getting the 16 weeks of severance her fellow employees received: 'I'm going through my kids' closet and selling their old clothes'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Meta employees who were laid off at the end of last year received 16 weeks or more of severance pay. In addition to those four months of pay, employees were offered two additional weeks of severance for every year at the company, with no limit. Those workers received fewer weeks of severance and insurance than other Meta employees — they were given only the amount of pay necessary to comply with federal law. Beyond that, Levy told Insider that she wasn't offered any other severance pay, only three months of health insurance. But she's in a tough spot with limited severance pay, and she said that the $450 ceiling for unemployment benefits in California is not keeping up with the cost of living.

☆ Meta didn't sit around twiddling thumbs after Apple privacy changes, VP says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMeta didn't sit around twiddling thumbs after Apple privacy changes, VP saysNicola Mendelsohn, vice president of Meta's global business group, discusses bleak outlook for technology, the impact of Apple's curbs on advertiser tracking on its business, and the company's appeal of a $400 billion fine from the Irish data privacy watchdog.

☆ Thousands of Meta workers signed up to Blind the day before Mark Zuckerberg announced mass layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Meta employees flocked to the anonymous professional network Blind the day before mass layoffs. Close to 3,000 Meta staff signed up to Blind the day before Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement. In the past two weeks about 7,000 Meta staff signed up, with 3 in 4 workers now on the site. On the day before the Facebook founder announced 11,000 job cuts, close to 3,000 Meta employees signed up to the platform, Kyum Kim told Insider. Blind has more than 64,000 Meta employees signed up on its platform, which it says is more than three quarters of the workforce.

☆ Facebook won't be fact-checking Donald Trump now he's announced he's running for president in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Facebook staff have reportedly been instructed not to fact-check former president Donald Trump. Trump announced on Tuesday evening he's running for president in 2024. Facebook says on its website that politicians are exempt from fact-checking, although they lose this protection once they leave office. The memo reported by CNN explained that some Facebook employees had requested guidance around fact-checking politicians ahead of Trump's speech on Tuesday evening. Meta suspended Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts in the wake of the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021.

☆ Meta didn't slow its expense growth fast enough, says Evercore's Mark Mahaney
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMeta didn't slow its expense growth fast enough, says Evercore's Mark MahaneyMark Mahaney, Evercore ISI, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss Meta after the company announces plans to cut 13 percent of its workforce, about 11,000 workers.

☆ Here's what laid-off Meta employees in the US are being offered as severance packages
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg's memo included details of the severance package offered to US staff. Meta's severance pay is substantially more generous than packages offered to staff after recent layoffs at firms like Twitter and Lyft. Elon Musk's Twitter offered employees three months of severance pay, while Lyft staffers were given 10 weeks pay. Alongside severance pay, Meta also said that laid-off staff will be paid for all remaining time off they have accrued. Elsewhere in the memo, the Meta CEO took responsibility for layoffs and apologized to staff for over-investing, saying: "I got this wrong."

☆ Meta has pumped $36 billion into its metaverse and VR businesses since 2019. These 4 charts show the scale of its extreme spending — and huge losses.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Meta has pumped $36 billion into its Reality Labs division since 2019, an Insider analysis found. The division, comprising Meta's metaverse and VR businesses, made a $30.7 billion operating loss over the same period. "We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year," CFO David Wehner said. Grace Dean/InsiderCosts and expenses for Reality Labs amounted to $12.5 billion for the full-year 2021, and the division brought in $2.3 billion revenue. And despite the ballooning losses at Reality Labs, Zuckerberg said Wednesday he's "pretty confident" the company is heading "in a good direction."

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