According to the new policy, advertisers that buy ads related to elections or other political issues need to verify their identity with Facebook and disclose who paid for the ad. These ads, and the identity of their purchasers, are then preserved in Facebook's Ad Library for seven years, so that anyone can see who paid for a particular ad. Though Facebook's political advertising policies have been met with some criticism from groups that believe the rules are overly broad – publishers initially complained that ads promoting news stories should be exempt from the requirements (Facebook eventually agreed) – the social network says the rules are meant to combat the type of election interference Russia used, to great effect, in the 2016 presidential election.

Instagram wants you to join the chat

After it was first spotted in testing back in May, Instagram has officially launched its new 'Join Chat' sticker for Stories, which, when tapped, will connect Stories viewers into a private discussion. Again, the overall trends more towards a more private sharing point to this being a key opportunity, and both Instagram and Snapchat have the capacity to capitalise on the same, if they can better prompt users to engage via messaging within their respective apps. If Instagram can further boost this element, that can only be a bonus, which makes this a logical, sensible addition, aligning with the trends in both Stories and messaging.