Table of Contents
Facebook’s owner Meta has been actively investing in the company’s strategies and infrastructure while at the same time introducing new apps, which has resulted in a marked increase in users. Meta also invested enormously in Ai and joined the rush, which has added to the revenue and reversed the downward spiral from last year.
Let’s unveil the key milestones in Meta’s exhilarating journey and plans for the year 2023
- What is Meta
- Reels, Meta’s fastest-growing platform
- What is Llama 2
- What is Threads
- What are AI products on Meta’s roadmap
- What is Quest 3
- What is the Year of Efficacy
- How much revenue has Meta generated in the second quarter of 2023
- What has been a strong factor in increasing Meta’s revenue
What is Meta
Meta is a company that builds technologies that have changed how people connect. It has introduced apps that have helped people find communities and have paved the way for businesses to grow. Meta introduced Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Meta introduced Reels across its platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which welcomed more users and increased engagement by many folds. Threads on Instagram, another feature by Meta that was a big hit, and now the new AI products and Quest 3 are set to reshape the rest of the year for Meta users.
Reels, Meta’s fastest-growing platform
Meta launched Reels on Instagram as short videos to counter the TikTok threat. Later when it amounted to something more than originally planned, Meta added more features. It also introduced reels on Facebook and increased the time from 60 seconds to 90 seconds, including new and creative tools.
Reels is Meta’s one of the fasting growing platforms, with Facebook and Instagram play doubling over time. This has resulted in a spike in Instagram and Facebook usage and a profit rise. More and more users are shifting towards making short video content. Users keep returning to these social networking sites, and the plays on reels per day keep reaching a new threshold, adding to Meta’s profit.
What is Llama 2
Language models have revolutionized how data is collected, analysed, stored, and used. With advancements in language models, content generation and productivity has increased many folds. Meta’s Llama 2 is the next generation of open-source large language models. It can be trained to build more chatbots like ChatGPT.
When was it introduced?
Meta introduced Llama 2 for research and commercial use on July 18, 2023. It was developed in partnership with Microsoft. It has a license allowing users unlimited and free use for commercial and academic purposes.
How is Llama 2 better than Llama 1
Llama 2 is a Meta equivalent of other famous language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It has a more recent dataset and is trained on internet data that was publicly available. This makes it one of the most advanced and well-trained language models.
Llama 2 has been trained on significantly more data than Llama 1. It also has a double contextual length compared to Llama 1. It performs better than large language models in reasoning, proficiency, coding, and knowledge tests. It has been trained to generate coherent and natural outputs.
Where is it available to use
Llama 2 is available in the Azure AI model catalogue. It will enable the developers and researchers who are using Microsoft Azure to build using this large language model. This language model can also run locally on Windows. It is available via AWS, Hugging Face, and many other providers.
Is Llama open source
Llama 2 is open-source, meaning it has been published and can be used to build new applications or language models. Making a model open source will accelerate the fields of research and development. It will be used to test new old hypotheses and generate new ones.
Llama 2 is so effective; it can automate tasks to enhance productivity. It can also automate coding and the complex data analysis process. It will allow researchers to share data, ideas and code among themselves. However, as with all technical models, it still needs to be improved in the creative area.
What is Threads
Instagram launched threads to share text updates and engage in conversations on a public platform, much like Twitter. It allows users to use their Instagram profile to log into Threads. It has a 500-character limit, and people can include links, photos, and event minute-long videos in their posts.
How does it work
The original idea revolved around providing billions of Instagram users who connect with others through videos and photos with a text update platform where people could converse in real-time and publicly. Threads allow people to follow people they know from Instagram and other people.
Privacy policy
Threads tune out the noise by providing privacy options for people to choose who can mention them or reply. Young users (under 16 or 18) get a default private profile to protect their privacy.
Was Threads a success
Threads was one of the fastest-growing apps of all time, with millions of users joining the platform in hours and 100 million users within a month, exceeding ChatGPT. It was a huge success and added to Meta’s revenue in the second quarter.
What is Thread’s future?
Threads not having some basic features like those of Instagram points towards the fact that Meta is looking towards building a community and a name for now. Then they’ll keep on improving the app and adding additional innovative features.
What are the AI products on Meta’s Roadmap
With the current AI technological advancements, every company is in a rush to jump on the bandwagon and introduce AI-incorporated tools in their line. Meta is developing Ai-powered tools to transform how users use their platforms.
AI sandbox
Meta is working on AI-powered tools to make it easier for advertisers to create marketing content. Meta launched AI Sandbox, which serves as a ground to test all the AI-powered tools. This has been devised to test all the products and what will help advertisers reach their goals.
More AI tools
The new tools include text variations, allowing users to generate the same variations of the same text. Image cropping tool: This tool allows the users to produce a variation in the ratio aspect of content which can be used for multiple platforms. Background generator: this tool allows the users to generate different backgrounds based on simple text inputs. The users can also swap them. Other generative tools include large language models like Llama.
AI-recommended content
Another important feature that has been a breakthrough for Meta is getting content recommendations on your feed from accounts you don’t follow. This has changed how people consume content, allowing them to explore more options based on the content they already consume. This also helps them discover things they otherwise would never have seen.
Meta Lattice
Meta lattice has been a big hit among advertisers as it lets them see how their ads would perform and helps them learn if they need to optimize their ads better.
What is Quest 3
After the launch of Quest 2, Meta is planning on releasing the next-generation virtual and mixed-reality headset Quest 3. Quest 3 is believed to have advanced features compared to its predecessors. It will have additional features like higher resolution, a slimmer body, stronger performance, and a breakthrough reality and next-generation Qualcomm chipset.
Immersive VR breakthrough
Meta is set to transform the world of VR by blending the physical world with the virtual world. It allows the users to experience a real mixed reality experience that they can understand, navigate through their physical world, and respond to objects in the physical space. Innovative machine learning and spatial understanding let the device give the user a limitless experience.
Best immersive content library in the whole world
Quest 2 had a catalogue of more than 500 VR games. Quest 3 will have access to and be compatible with all those, along with many new and exciting VR and MR titles that will be launched soon. This makes Quest 3’s immersive library one of the best in the world.
Meta reality available to all
Quest 3’s launch will make meta-reality available to all. It will deliver VR and MR experiences in a single device at a lower price point, setting a new benchmark for VR headsets.
When will Quest 3 be released, and how much will it cost
Quest 3 is believed to launch and ship to all the countries where Meta is already operating and is supported. The 128 GB headset will start at USD 449.9. There will be additional storage options for those wanting to expand the space.
What improvements have been made in Quest 2
Meta has updated GPU and CPU for its Quest line while making Quest 2 cheaper for its users. It lowered the prices to USD 299.99 for 128 GB SKUs and 256GB SKUs. The new price was $349.99. This price decrease made the VR headsets more affordable for people to use, welcoming new users and adding to Meta’s success for the second quarter.
What is the year of Efficacy?
Meta introduced a plan to restructure the company to make them a better technology company and improve its financial performance and called it the Year of Efficacy. The plan included cancelling lower-priority projects and reducing and resizing hiring rates and the hiring team. The plan included laying off around 10,000 people.
Meta reintroduced some cultural principles and devised a roadmap to enhance their technologies and make them more accessible to reach more people and improve their lives.
How much revenue has Meta generated in the second quarter of 2023
The company’s revenue was short of $32bn. There was an average increase of 11 pc compared to last year. Meta has also reported a net profit of $7.7bn. In extended trading, the stocks rose by about 7%. Meta has earnings of $2.98 per share. This revenue was generated based on the apps and tools launched already.
How has engagement across the apps been
The engagement across different apps that Meta has already launched and the ones they launched recently has been strong and promising. New users keep joining the various meta platforms, and the daily activities across different apps keep growing daily.
What has been a strong factor in increasing Meta’s revenue
Some of the key tools that have caused Meta’s success to exceed expectations are:
Advertising Ads
One key factor that has resulted in the generated revenue exceeding expectations is Advertising Ads across platforms like Facebook and Instagram added to Meta’s success when more people kept coming back to watch the reels and use the platforms.
Business messaging
Business messaging has helped Meta attract consumers and increase traffic like no other. Whether it’s product information or a query about a delivery, every time a person wants to buy a product, the message is the business. Meta has made it easy for sellers to connect with their customers.
Chatbots, one-click business ads that direct the customer to messages, automated question-answer platforms, and automated FAQs have made it possible for sellers to stand up to the customer’s expectations and meet their needs in time. Engaging with large traffic ensures customer satisfaction and helps businesses grow.
This has been one of the best monetization tools for Meta so far, and their new Click-to-WhatsApp feature without a Facebook account required feature will only add to Meta’s success over time.
Conclusion
The results generated after the year’s second quarter prove how well Meta is doing. From revenue generated exceeding the company’s expectations to user engagement growing every day, Meta’s restructuring techniques and Year of Efficacy plans are paying off. The company CEO Mark Zuckerberg decided to realign the strategies, lay people off, reduce the number of open spaces in the recruitment department, and solid roadmap with advanced products and Ai-driven strategies, increasing the company’s profit many folds.
