Facebook jumped into the podcasting trend only to jump right back out, after only less than a year in service.
According to Bloomberg, the social media platform is expected to end its support for podcasts this summer. Facebook is removing the ability to add podcasts beginning this week and then getting rid of them entirely starting on June 3 — all without giving users an explicit heads-up.
The cessation of the podcast platform also includes changes to other Facebook audio services including:
That said, these changes appear to be part of Meta’s new focus on short-form videos, particularly on competing with TikTok with its own offering, Reels. Reels is available on both Instagram and Facebook, though Instagram had it first. Instagram launched Reels in 2020 and Facebook followed up with its own version a year later.
And recently, Instagram announced a push for more original content, with new features to better support creators and encourage the creation of more original content (rather than its users just reposting videos from a certain short-form video competitor).
Meta appears to be doubling down on short-form content and this current pivot away from podcasting seems to be a part of that trend.
Discord is trying to push more visibility on the internet for some of its biggest communities, and there's a good chance your messages could end up in a Google Search. The platform is preparing to make conversations from certain public servers searchable on the web, so there's a privacy setting you might want to check before the rollout begins.
According to Discord's official announcement, the changes will roll out in two stages. Starting November 16, qualifying servers will have public web pages featuring automated summaries of conversations. By mid-December, individual messages from eligible public channels could also appear word-for-word in Google and other search engines.
You just opened X and started typing your thoughts. Imagine the jump scare when a hand suddenly pops up on your screen, pointing at the promote button. It doesn’t say a word and simply points. For a growing number of X users, this isn’t a made-up scenario but something they have been seeing since yesterday, and very few of them are amused.
Most of us have learned to tune out the usual in-app upsells, whether it’s a glowing upgrade banner or a pop-up about a premium plan. A floating hand hovering over your draft is much harder to ignore, and that’s probably the whole point.
Scroll through any app for five minutes, and you’ll find someone maxxing something. Their skin, their sleep, their protein intake, even their Friday night on the couch. That little suffix has been everywhere this year, and now it has a trophy to show for it. In a recent announcement, Dictionary.com named maxxing its 2026 Word of the Year.
What are people actually doing when they’re maxxing?