Instagram Rolls Out New Icons for Gen Z

Meta is once again trying to prove it still understands what’s cool among younger users — this time with a new Instagram feature for teen accounts that lets them swap out their app icon for one of six new designs. The update follows Instagram’s recent overhaul of its teen account settings, which introduced simplified protections inspired by movie-style content ratings. Alongside those changes, the platform is now rolling out a small but flashy addition: customizable app icons, giving teens another way to express their personal style within the app. As Instagram’s design team explained: “With the creativity of illustrator @doncarrrlos, we’ve introduced six different aesthetics that teens can use to customize their app icons, including chrome, cosmic, slime, and more.” Honestly, they look a bit simplistic — at least to adult eyes. But maybe that’s the point. I’m clearly not the demographic Meta is courting here, and perhaps these minimalist, playful designs genuinely appeal to younger users. Snapchat, for instance, offers similar customization features as part of its Snapchat+ subscription, and those have been widely embraced by teens. So, while the concept might seem minor or superficial, there’s likely an audience for it — even if the designs themselves look a little like doodles you’d find in a high school notebook. Still, Instagram insists there’s been a considerable amount of design thinking behind the update. The goal, according to the company, was to “push the boundaries of the logo” and bring more creative flair to the user experience. So, if custom icons are your thing, you now have a handful of new ways to dress up your Instagram app — at least if you’re on a teen account. To try it, Instagram says teen users can tap the Instagram logo at the top of their home feed after opening the app and select one of the new designs from there. A small update, sure — but one clearly aimed at keeping Instagram feeling fun, personal, and a little more “Gen Z.” 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Increasingly convinced that Meta no longer understands why people actually use its apps. That might sound counterintuitive — after all, this is the company behind three of the most widely used platforms on the planet, each boasting billions of active users. You don’t reach that level of dominance without a deep understanding of human behavior, right? But outside of following trends — Stories, short-form videos, disappearing messages — when was the last time Meta actually created something original? Something that didn’t already exist elsewhere before being adapted, refined, and rolled out to its massive user base? In that sense, Zuckerberg and his team have proven to be less inventors and more master tacticians. They’ve ensured that no competing app can truly overtake them — either by acquiring potential rivals or by cloning their key features and distributing them at a global scale. It’s a brilliant defensive strategy: any new social media innovation can be swiftly absorbed, amplified, and ultimately rendered redundant. Building a new platform today is nearly impossible, because Meta has already won the scale game. Its reach alone guarantees dominance. Still, every once in a while, Meta decides to strike out on its own, introducing a new product it believes addresses some unmet user need. And almost every time, the result is the same — a quiet, underwhelming failure. Honestly, I can’t recall a single meaningful, homegrown innovation from Meta in the last five years. Maybe Instagram Notes? Yet Meta keeps trying. Take last week’s announcement: a new feature that scans the photos in your camera roll to suggest possible Facebook posts or Stories. Sounds interesting? Not really. Nobody asked for that, and nobody’s going to use it. Give it a few months, and Meta will quietly phase it out. What about the “OG Facebook” Friend Feed, meant to bring back the good old days of connecting with friends? Nostalgic, sure — but nobody’s posting personal updates anymore. The social pressure and fear of judgment have made that type of sharing obsolete. Facebook is now a Reels platform, and everyone knows it. Celebrity chatbots? AI-generated “fantasy” scenarios through Meta AI? Facebook Avatars? None of these have landed. Each one feels like a misread — a flawed interpretation of data that leads to the wrong conclusion about what users actually want. People aren’t posting fewer personal updates because it’s hard to create them, or because they forget to. They’re not posting because they simply don’t want to. The novelty of public commentary from old acquaintances has worn off. As for chatting with “AI versions” of celebrities — that entirely misses the point. The thrill of connecting with influencers is in the authenticity of the interaction. Simulated conversations strip that away completely. And creativity? The biggest barrier isn’t access to tools — it’s having the time and inspiration to create something meaningful. Genuine creativity is rare. It’s why most people will never write a great book, produce a hit movie, or craft a viral post. That spark — the ability to truly resonate — is hard to replicate. AI might make the process easier, but let’s be honest: most AI-generated content is going to be forgettable noise. Prompting users to “Imagine a space frog” doesn’t make anyone more creative; it just floods the feed with more clutter. To Meta’s credit, the company excels at what it does best: defending its empire. It neutralizes threats through replication, dilution, and opportunism — a formula that’s kept it untouchable for years. Maybe originality isn’t even necessary when you’ve already won the distribution game. Still, creativity and connection remain the beating heart of social media. And while Meta might be able to smother competitors through scale, it’s not leading with genuine innovation anymore. That’s why Meta needs creators — real ones — to shape its next generation of experiences. It should be opening its AR and VR ecosystems to developers, encouraging experimentation and cultural input from outside its walls. Meta knows this, and to its credit, it has started to form partnerships in that direction. But the in-house features it continues to roll out on Facebook and Instagram consistently miss the mark. So what should Meta build? Instead of more AI gimmicks, why not use that technology to help users form meaningful connections again — something that’s been lost along the way? Imagine AI-powered discovery tools that connect people with shared interests, local Reels feeds highlighting nearby creators, or creative collaboration features that help users remix music, build projects, or join communities together. Social media was built on interaction — on the shared energy of connection and creativity. Meta’s current strategy, based purely on data patterns and simplified posting tools, ignores that essence. People don’t need more prompts to post; they need reasons to. Perhaps, with its ad business thriving, Meta doesn’t see this as a problem worth solving. But if it genuinely wants to reignite activity beyond passive video consumption, it needs to rediscover what made social media special in the first place. Until then, its new ideas will keep landing with the same dull thud — well-intentioned, well-funded, but entirely off the mark. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Meta is stepping up its efforts to protect older internet users from online scams — because, let’s face it, they’re often the ones who fall prey to the latest “Nigerian inheritance,” “Amazon customer service,” or “Facebook password” schemes. And before anyone gets offended, this isn’t speculation — it’s data-backed reality. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, individuals over the age of 60 filed the highest number of complaints and recorded the biggest financial losses in 2024, collectively losing a staggering $4.8 billion to online scams.  Online fraud continues to be a massive issue, and the gap in digital literacy is one of the key factors that scammers exploit. To address this, Meta is rolling out new alerts to help older users spot potential scams. The company is also sharing practical advice that you can pass along to your parents, uncles, or aunts who spend too much time scrolling through Facebook. First, Meta is introducing new scam warnings on WhatsApp and Messenger to notify users about common fraud tactics.  As shown in these examples, WhatsApp will now display alerts when users initiate screen sharing — a feature scammers often exploit to gain unauthorized access. Meanwhile, Messenger is testing an upgraded scam detection system within chats. According to Meta: “When this feature is active and a new contact sends a potentially suspicious message, users will be warned and given the option to send recent chat messages for AI-powered scam review. If a potential scam is detected, users will receive more details about common fraud types and recommended actions, such as blocking or reporting the account.” These measures aim to highlight common scam techniques and raise awareness of vulnerabilities that criminals often exploit.  Additionally, the company outlined a few of the most common scams targeting older users: - Fake home renovation and debt relief schemes: Fraudsters have created websites that pretend to offer government benefits or low-cost home improvement programs for seniors. These scams often rely on paid ads on platforms like Facebook and Google to collect personal information. - Fraudulent money recovery services: Some scammers impersonate the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), claiming they can help victims recover lost funds — including from cryptocurrency fraud. They’ve used fake accounts across multiple platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. - Fake customer service representatives: Criminals pose as airline, bank, or retail support agents on social media, replying to user comments under official brand posts to lure them into private messages or fraudulent forms that harvest personal data. These examples highlight the evolving sophistication of online scams. Meta also announced its partnership with the National Elder Fraud Coordination Center (NEFCC) — a nonprofit coalition involving law enforcement and major corporations like AARP, Amazon, Capital One, Google, Microsoft, and Walmart — dedicated to combating fraud targeting seniors. “We’ll be collaborating with NEFCC members to fight fraud at local, state, and national levels, focusing on protecting older adults by sharing resources and supporting investigations into large-scale scam operations,” Meta stated. Meta continues to conduct regular reviews of scam networks and has participated in multiple initiatives to combat fraudulent activity, including romance scams, across its platforms. These are undeniably positive steps — initiatives that could help educate not only older users but everyone about online risks. However, there’s a lingering irony here. While Meta is publicly championing user safety, it’s also aggressively promoting AI-generated content across its platforms — a trend that scammers are eagerly exploiting. Take a scroll through Facebook right now and you’ll find countless AI-generated posts racking up thousands of likes — often serving as bait for scammers looking to expand their reach or resell popular pages. It’s a contradictory stance: on one hand, Meta wants to protect vulnerable users from digital deception; on the other, it’s enabling the very technology that can blur truth and fiction even further. Still, credit where it’s due — these new safety initiatives and educational efforts are steps in the right direction. At the very least, it’s something you can share with the Gen Xers and Baby Boomers in your life before the next “too-good-to-be-true” message lands in their inbox. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!