Meta lays off employees across multiple teams

On Wednesday, Meta carried out layoffs across several teams, confirming the decision was part of its ongoing effort to restructure and better align resources with its long-term goals. The company explained in a statement to TechCrunch that these layoffs were necessary to meet evolving strategic objectives.

“Today, some teams at Meta are undergoing changes to ensure resources are aligned with our long-term strategic plans and location priorities,” a Meta spokesperson shared via email. “This includes relocating certain teams, transitioning employees to new roles, and, in cases where jobs are eliminated, making efforts to find new opportunities for affected staff.”

Meta lays off employees across multiple teams

Teams working on Reality Labs, Instagram, and WhatsApp were reportedly among those affected, according to The Verge.

One of the employees impacted by this round of layoffs was Jane Manchun Wong, a software engineer hired in 2023 for Instagram. Wong had gained recognition for revealing unreleased features of Meta’s apps, and her hiring had been celebrated by Meta executives like CTO Andrew Bosworth and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri.

Several other employees who were laid off also took to social media to share their experience. Those working on Facebook, recruiting, legal operations, and design teams were among those announcing their departures. However, Meta confirmed that no layoffs took place within Threads, recruiting, or legal operations.

Although the company did not disclose the total number of employees affected or the specific departments involved, a former Meta employee shared that some were offered the option to take on new roles under revised contracts, while others chose to accept severance packages. According to reports, certain employees received six weeks of severance pay.

In an additional report from the Financial Times, it was revealed that some employees were dismissed for using their $25 meal credits for non-food items, as rumored on the workplace app Blind.

This latest round of layoffs is part of Meta’s broader effort to reduce its workforce. In 2022, Meta laid off 13% of its employees, totaling around 11,000 workers, a move for which CEO Mark Zuckerberg took responsibility. In 2023, Meta cut another 10,000 jobs and canceled 5,000 open positions. These reductions follow rapid hiring during the pandemic as Meta now focuses on streamlining its operations.

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Social Tech

X Expands Community Notes to Video Content, but Experts Question its Effectiveness

by George Mensah 2023-09-24

X, formerly known as Twitter, has expanded its crowdsourced fact-checking system, Community Notes, to support video content. This means that approved members can now attach written notes to videos that contain misleading information. The notes will be visible to all users, providing them with additional context about the content they are viewing.

The expansion of Community Notes to video content is a welcome move, as it could help to reduce the spread of misinformation on the platform. However, some experts have questioned the effectiveness of the system, due to a few fundamental flaws.

One flaw is that, for a Community Note to become visible, it must first be approved by members on both sides of the discourse. This can create a situation where harmful or misleading content can go unchecked for a while before it gets tagged with the proper disclaimer, if at all.

Another flaw is X’s disproportionate implementation of its moderation, safety, and security features. For example, X has been repeatedly called out for censoring critical voices targeting the government in markets like India and the Middle East. This raises concerns about whether Community Notes will be applied fairly and consistently across all types of content.

Finally, some experts have criticized the fact that X is indirectly passing the onus of fact-checking to its most prolific users, rather than having a dedicated trust and safety team do the job. This is especially concerning given that Elon Musk famously gutted the company’s safety team soon after he took over.

Overall, the expansion of Community Notes to video content is a positive step, but it is important to be aware of its limitations. The system is still under development, and it remains to be seen how effective it will be in reducing the spread of misinformation on the platform.

In addition to the flaws mentioned above, here are some other concerns about the Community Notes system:

It is unclear how X will ensure that Community Notes are accurate and unbiased.
The system could be used to harass or silence certain users.
It could be used to spread misinformation itself, if it is not carefully monitored.

Overall, the Community Notes system is a promising experiment, but it is important to be aware of its limitations and potential risks. X should carefully monitor the system and make adjustments as needed to ensure that it is effective and fair.

Social Tech

Bluesky Hits Record High in Daily Active Users After Elon Musk Announces Subscription Fee for X

by George Mensah 2023-09-23

Bluesky, a decentralized social network that is still in its early stages of development, has seen a record surge in daily active users after Elon Musk announced that he would begin charging all X users a small monthly fee to use its services.

According to analytics firm Similarweb, Bluesky’s Android app saw half a million daily active users on the day of Musk’s announcement, September 18, and its web traffic surged even higher, with over 775,000 daily visitors. This represents a 20.6% increase in daily active users on Android and a 30% increase in daily visitors on the web from the day prior.

The surge in traffic was so great that Bluesky was forced to temporarily halt new user sign-ups as its website buckled under the influx.

This is not the first time that Bluesky has benefited from Musk’s missteps with X. In the past, Bluesky has seen similar surges in traffic after other X controversies, such as the imposition of temporary rate limits on the number of tweets users could view and the announcement of the end of blocks.

Despite Bluesky’s recent growth, it is still a very small platform compared to X. Bluesky currently has just over 1 million users, while X has over 550 million monthly active users.

However, the fact that Bluesky is able to consistently benefit from X’s blunders suggests that there is a growing appetite for alternatives to X. Bluesky’s decentralized architecture and commitment to free speech make it a particularly attractive option for users who are dissatisfied with X’s direction.

Here are some additional details and insights:

Bluesky is still invite-only, so the surge in usage this week could have been even higher if it had opened up its doors to anyone interested in joining.
Bluesky is the largest of the microblogging networks that are directly competing with X, but it is still very small compared to X.
Despite its small size, Bluesky is growing rapidly and is well-positioned to capitalize on X’s missteps.
Bluesky’s decentralized architecture and commitment to free speech make it a particularly attractive option for users who are dissatisfied with X’s direction.

Overall, the article provides a good overview of Bluesky’s recent growth and its potential as a competitor to X. The article also highlights the risks that X faces as it continues to alienate its users.

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Meta lays off employees across multiple teams