TikTok is a serious threat to Facebook, and the adjustments the social network is making to compete with it could spell the end of the social network as we know it.

Friends and acquaintances will no longer be the primary focus of Facebook. Like TikTok, it’ll have an addictive scroll that feeds you movies, photos, and other content that it believes you’ll enjoy. You’re less likely to see postings from your embarrassing aunt and more likely to see videos of cute pets or recipes from food influencers as a result.

When Meta made the announcement last week, it was for Facebook and Instagram: When you open Facebook, the “Home” tab will be the first thing you see. The new primary screen was referred to as a “discovery engine” by a business announcement.

Any public video that is less than 15 minutes long will now be automatically converted into a reel on Instagram, which “may be eligible to be suggested” to other Instagram users.

Basically, if you’re tired of watching TikTok videos from random strangers, Facebook has you covered. On the default home screen, you’ll find an option called “Feeds,” which will allow you to see what your friends and followers are up to more clearly.

Algorithm-based engagement or consumption is prioritized over human connections in Meta’s new approach. Both IT and entertainment corporations are vying for consumers’ attention, whether it is on social media platforms or through streaming services.

Another step toward “the end of the social networking era,” according to Axios’ Scott Rosenberg.

While it’s a dramatic shift from the initial goal of Facebook, it’s a step in the right direction for the company. It used to signify something to update your status on Facebook.

Keeping score, here’s how Facebook has progressed:

When Facebook’s “News Feed” was originally introduced in 2006, it was nothing more than a simple list of friends’ updates.

There have been several algorithm-driven changes to Facebook’s feed over time, and this isn’t the first. Algorithms were put in place in 2009 that prioritized more interesting life updates from users’ relationships in the stream.

It launched an update in 2018 that will “prioritize postings that stimulate conversations and meaningful interactions amongst people.” (Critics claim that this confines people to political echo chambers, fueling fanaticism.)

As a result, this latest version marks the most significant departure yet from Facebook as a social network and a move closer to TikTok, which surged rapidly during the pandemic – maybe too quickly for Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg not to take note.

When TikTok announced in September 2021 that it had more than 1 billion active users, it had just over 500 million members at the end of 2019. In March, Facebook claimed 2.9 billion monthly active users, but the social network has been operational for nearly two decades now.

“Aggressive new tactics to establish significance in a world where TikTok is rapidly setting the pace,” Casey Newton said in a recent edition of his Platformer newsletter.

If Facebook goes away, that doesn’t mean that we’re done with social media. The demise of social media platforms as venues to create “meaningful” interactions with people is a sad consequence of this development.

TikTok, Facebook, and other social media apps are now all about entertaining you and keeping you on the app for as long as they can. People you know won’t play a significant role in achieving that aim.

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“It’s Your World, You Decide!”

A sailfish weighing about 100 pounds stabbed a woman when she was boating off the coast of Florida.

According to a report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office the event occurred on Tuesday morning.

Two other boat passengers were attempting to pull in a fish when one of them was injured, according to the report. Katherine Perkins, 73, of Arnold, Maryland, told police that she was stabbed in the groin while standing near to the boat’s center console. After being “stabbed,” Perkins became “incoherent,” according to the report.

Two other passengers, Louis Toth and Dominic Bellezza, told authorities that after the sailfish was hooked, it charged at the boat.

Perkins allegedly claimed that she was unable to react since everything happened so quickly.

According to the report, the two men applied pressure to the injuries before transporting Perkins to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital. CNN reported on Sunday that the woman was doing well, citing a hospital official.

In addition to the sheriff’s department, fire rescue was also on the scene and “tended to” Perkins, according to the report.

Sailfish, according to National Geographic, can achieve speeds of up to 68 miles per hour, making them the fastest fish in the water. They can reach a weight of 220 pounds and a length of 5.7 to 11 feet.

According to National Geographic, the fish is sought after as a “game fish” because its meat is not generally consumed. The fish “will battle furiously, leaping and diving repeatedly, and sometimes taking hours to land,” according to the publication, which described the fish’s behavior after being hooked.

Real estate’s balance of power is shifting.

As a result of the slowdown brought on by higher mortgage rates, sellers are being forced to lower their asking prices in order to remain competitive.

Taylor Marr, Redfin’s deputy chief economist, believes sellers’ newfound flexibility is already altering the housing market.

“The housing market isn’t crashing, but it is experiencing a hangover as it comes down from an unsustainable high,” Marr said in a statement to Insider, adding that a lot of home sellers are already beginning to drop their asking prices. 

According to data from Redfin, 22.4 percent of properties that were on the market in June witnessed a price decline, the biggest share on record. Mortgage rate hikes have contributed to the reduction, adding as much as $400 to the monthly payment of a typical borrower. As a result, according to the latest data, properties are lying on the market for longer periods of time and fetching lower prices.

“Rising mortgage rates are also forcing some buyers to cancel home purchases,” Marr said. “If rates were at 5% when you made an offer, but reached 5.8% by the time the deal was set to close, you may no longer be able to afford that home or you may no longer qualify for a loan.”

To be clear, demand is waning, but not collapsing, as some had feared. The housing market today is far more competitive than it was in 2008, when buyers were vying for a much larger pool of available properties. The national median home price has risen to an all-time high of more than $420,000 as a result of this imbalance in supply and demand.

Today’s purchasers are still leveraging more than $3.2 trillion in home equity, and those who can afford to compete are being more picky. Because of buyer jitters, 14.9 percent of properties that were put up for sale nationwide in June were not completed, according to statistics from Redfin. The reading in June was the highest percentage recorded outside of March and April of 2020.

Homebuyers have greater opportunity to negotiate because of the decrease in competitiveness in the housing market,” Marr said in a statement. “Inspection and appraisal contingencies are becoming more and more important to buyers, rather than being waived. Because of this, they have the ability to cancel the agreement if problems emerge during the homebuying process.”

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