Facebook is doubling-down on its e-commerce business and attempting to make shopping a destination in its main app, similarly to how it’s already done inside Instagram. As a test in the US, the company is launching Facebook Shop, a tab within the main Facebook app where people will be able to find products to buy and then purchase within the app. At the same time, the company is expanding its Shops product, which launched earlier this year and let people sell products on Facebook and Instagram, to all eligible businesses globally, along with new customisation options, messaging, and insights to measure results. Sellers will be able to communicate with their customers through Messenger, Instagram Direct, and eventually WhatsApp, too. Sellers will also be able to host Live Shopping events during which they live stream and show off products that customers can buy directly through the stream on either Facebook or Instagram. Transaction fees will be waived through the end of the year because of the pandemic. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he expected commerce and payments to be the future of the company in 2019, and he’s making good on that promise.

Reddit is set to expand its live-streaming service

If you’ve scrolled through Reddit’s app recently, you might have spotted a live stream of someone playing music, making art, or just talking to the camera. Those broadcasts come from Reddit’s own live-streaming service, the Reddit Public Access Network (RPAN), which just celebrated its first anniversary. And as the service enters year two, Reddit is teasing an expansion to more sub-reddits at some point in the future. The streams felt a lot more relaxed than what it is to tune on Twitch or YouTube. That’s partially because the service is meant to appeal to a broader audience. “We definitely saw a lot of people who weren’t traditionally streaming on other platforms, just a lot of regular users who were excited about this new experience,” Alex Le, Reddit’s Vice President, said in an interview. The service is now live 24/7 and is open to everyone. There’s still one limitation, though: a 45-minute time limit for each stream, which can be extended by viewers via a feature. Eventually, Le said, Reddit plans to bring RPAN to as many communities, and that expansion is expected to happen in the next couple of months.