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Instagram and Facebook Shops
May-July 2020: Instagram Shop and Facebook Shop launch, bringing online shopping to social media. This helps small businesses promote and sell their products through social media. -
Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts
August-September 2020: Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts launch in direct competition with Tik Tok. This increases the popularity of short video content. -
India Tik Tok ban
June 2020: India bans Tik Tok and several other Chinese apps due to privacy and security issues. This contributes to YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels gaining popularity later on, and brings to light security concerns of apps from foreign countries. -
Tik Tok Shop
November 2022: Tik Tok Shop launches, adding to the growth of online shopping through social media. -
Musk buys Twitter
October 2022: Elon Musk purchases Twitter, reducing moderation in order to promote free speech. This causes controversy over the importance of free speech versus the importance of reducing hate speech and the spread of misinformation. -
Threads
July 2023: Meta creates Threads, a social media sight that offers competition to Twitter. This expands Meta's ownership of widely used social media apps (Facebook, Instagram, Threads). -
Meta AI
April 2024: Meta AI is launched, allowing Instagram users to receive search results from AI. This expands the use of social media to searching the internet, encouraging users to use Instagram as a search engine.