If you have the Facebook Pixel installed on your website, you received an email in early October from Facebook letting you know about an ‘Important Facebook Pixel Update.’

“On October 24, Facebook will begin offering businesses a first-party cookie option with the Facebook pixel. This change is in line with updates made by other online platforms, as use of first-party cookies for ads and site analytics is becoming the preferred approach by some browsers.”

Great. Now… what does that mean? With the first few days of this update roll-out behind us, we want to provide you with answers!

Is my Pixel still working?

Yes! The Facebook Pixel code you installed on your website still works. It’s just offering a new cookie option to better optimize tracking and reporting on website activity.

So, what IS a first-party cookie and how is it different from a third-party cookie?

According to Facebook:

“Cookies are small pieces of code stored in Internet browsers that are often used to distinguish between website visitors. The difference between first and third-party cookies lies in who owns the cookie. First-party cookies are owned by the website a person is currently viewing, while third-party cookies belong to a website other than the one a person is currently viewing.”

Why the change?

With concerns over privacy online, GDPR regulations and data collected from consumers, Facebook is simply updating the Pixel to take this into consideration. By allowing first-party cookies, the website has full control over the data collected and how it is used, which is more widely accepted by Internet browsers, such as Safari (now known to block third-party cookies.)

What do I have to do?

Absolutely nothing! Facebook has automatically rolled out this update to all Facebook Pixel owners. However, if you would like to opt out of using first-party cookies, you can. Facebook says, “With this option, your Facebook pixel will be less effective in reaching customers on Facebook and less accurate in measurement and reporting.”

Let’s take a second to debunk the myths of our youngest generation – Generation Z. AKA: “Millennials on Steroids,” “technology-dependent,” “iGeneration,” and so forth.

If you were born between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, you are full-blood Generation Z; you most likely grew up swiping through an iPhone, following your afternoon nap. When it comes to Gen Z stereotypes, date and behavior have categorized this riveting generation, but clichés certainly have not.

Welcome to the age of meaningful social. That’s right, you heard me! ICYMI, Facebook and Instagram recently rolled out a time management tool. Say what? The social channel announced on the Facebook Newsroom that they aren’t fans of mindless scrolling on the apps: “We want the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram to be intentional, positive, and inspiring. Our hope is that these tools give people more control over the time they spend on our platforms and also foster conversations between parents and teens about the online habits that are right for them.”

On Wednesday (July 11, 2018,) Twitter announced that they’re finally going to deal with the locked accounts that have plagued follower counts for years – being dubbed the “Twitter Purge.”

If you’re not exactly sure what I mean by a locked account, it’s a handle that Twitter has flagged for sudden and drastic changes in behavior. Twitter, supposedly reaches out to the owners of said locked accounts to request validation and a password reset – which if that’s not followed through, the account remains locked.

Attention all content creators! Where are you putting your video content?

Got something to say in 15 seconds or less? Throw that up on Instagram Stories where 400 million daily users are looking to consume content quickly.

Need a little longer? You better keep it to 1 minute on Facebook where its 2 billion monthly users want to watch something snappy that they can like or share before scrolling down to the next piece of content.