Meta is expanding access to its content and Library API. Meta says that this endeavor will be a boon for the researchers and help them in data research. With the expansion of access, the researchers will be able to conduct more in-depth data research on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Further, with this research, they will have a better understanding of the trends on social media and have access to better insight.

All of these are going to help the researchers to come up with improved social media policies. Meta has always been a friendly platform for researchers. It has made sure that researchers get enough access to the required data on the platform. However, access to data was somehow limited for the researchers after the Cambridge Analytical Scam took place in 2018. 

To eliminate these limitations, Meta has now further expanded access to data tools along with content and library API. In a statement, Meta says,

Our Meta Content Library and API tools provide access to near real-time public content from Pages, Posts, Groups and Events on Facebook, as well as from creator and business accounts on Instagram. Details about the content, such as the number of reactions, shares, comments and, for the first time, post view counts are also available. Researchers can search, explore and filter that content on both a graphical User Interface (UI) or through a programmatic API.

This move from Meta will further improve studies conducted on social media trends. Especially on platforms like X, the API tools are now chargeable. So, certain areas of social media analysis and various projects are being excluded from these platforms. 

With this endeavor of Meta, the areas of social media projects can become expanded. Having said that, the true impact of this move can be only capitalized with understanding the connections between social media and political changes and social media and mental health, which has already been flagged by prominent names like Selena Gomez.

This pop icon has taken breaks from social media on two occasions, citing reasons like mental health and violence of ongoing Israel-Palestine conflicts.