Facebook Friends With Benefits

PRESENTED BY AUTHOR.INC

Happy Tuesday, Future Party. Looks like the TFP team needs to book a trip to Japan soon — Godzilla is officially taking over Tokyo’s Haneda Airport for a year starting in December. It’s (fortunately) not the real King of the Monsters, but a 20-foot-tall, 131-foot-wide monument towering inside Terminal 3. For unsuspecting travelers, that first glimpse of him might be more effective at waking them up than any cup of coffee.

The most popular dating platform in the US is not Hinge, Tinder, or Bumble… it’s Facebook Dating.

Why It Hits: Meta is trying hard to make Facebook… well… Facebook again — the social networking trendsetter of 2010. And while there’s little evidence that kind of cultural cachet is making a comeback (no matter how much they pay creators), Facebook is seeing renewed interest as a go-to hub for connecting with people locally for specific, real-world purposes.

Behind The Profiles: In six years, Facebook Dating has become the hottest place to find a match online.

Last Message: Dating now joins Marketplace, Groups, and Messenger as major drivers of Facebook usage — especially among young people. All originate from how people were already using the app unofficially — behaviors the company eventually built infrastructure around.

Now, Facebook is giving Dating a boost with greater visibility (a new tab at the bottom of profiles), fresh features (an AI-driven match each week), and more social engagement (letting friends play matchmaker). All that’s missing is the return of the iconic Poke to get a match’s attention.

Next Date: Facebook has essentially become the new classifieds section of your local newspaper — signaling a transition toward being a local utility rather than a social media player.

No one buys a beach house from book sales—they buy it from what the book makes possible.

Author.Inc helps founders turn ideas into world-class books that build revenue, reputation, and reach.

Book a free 15-minute ROI call to see if your book is a go—or a smart wait.

Schedule Your Book ROI Assessment.

Big studio movies that don’t do well at the box office are turning into surprise hits on streaming platforms.

The Big Picture: What counts as a “hit” in Hollywood is becoming harder to define, especially since theatrical ticket sales now make up just one part of a movie’s economic journey. That’s been true since the DVD era, but the streaming age is rewriting the narrative once again — and redefining what a theatrical release is ultimately for.

Behind The Scenes: The bigger the bomb in theaters, the higher the likelihood it could top the streaming charts, per Bloomberg.

New Audience: Studios are well aware of their movies’ second lives on streaming and are now negotiating deals that reflect these evolving viewing habits. Universal and Warner Bros. have started putting their titles — hits and flops alike — on their own platforms first before licensing them to Netflix, Prime Video, or Hulu in hopes of driving more subscriptions. The new Paramount regime is reportedly looking to do the same.

Meanwhile, Sony is said to be negotiating a new kind of deal with Netflix — one that would pay based on projected streaming viewership rather than box office returns. It’s a long shot, but it signals how streaming data may soon become Hollywood’s real scoreboard.

Coming Soon: Many of the films that bombed in theaters were notoriously eviscerated by critics and on social media… so we wouldn’t be surprised if studios lean into those bad reviews to pique curiosity for their streaming releases.

51.9% of you voted All the time — it defined my pop culture era. in yesterday’s poll: How often did you watch MTV in its prime?

“I was very dedicated to my MTV watching. I even used it to watch the 9/11 footage and news. I wish that culture still existed today.”

“Turn-of-the-century shows like TRL, Jackass, Cribs, Pimp My Ride, Viva La Bam, and the MTV Movie Awards, etc.”

“TRL and Room Raiders were after-school staples!”

“I remember watching music video countdowns during the boring days of summer as a teen, when it was way too hot to go outside. It was the perfect filler when there was nothing else on.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join our Poll Of The Day newsletter, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

⚾ Game 7 of the World Series scored an average of 26 million viewers across all of Fox’s channels — the biggest viewership since 2017.

🃏 Papaya’s inaugural World Solitaire Championship has nabbed ESPN host Stephen A. Smith as its official ambassador.

🍎 Apple enlisted FINNEAS to create the jingle for its new Apple TV logo.

💸 Sorry, Microsoft: OpenAI has made a seven-year, $38 billion deal with Amazon Web Services.

🤔 Anthropic says its Claude chatbots are showing signs of “introspection,” — demonstrating an ability to answer questions about their own mental state.

🤖 Google has removed its Gemma model from its AI studio after it falsely accused Senator Marsha Blackburn of being under investigation for sexual misconduct.

💄 SKIMS has tapped Ami Colé founder Diarrha N’Diaye as the head of its upcoming beauty and fragrances arm.

🏈 Anti Social Social Club is collabing with the NFL on a capsule collection of apparel for all 32 teams.

⚽ Amiri has been named the official formalwear partner of the top soccer team FC Barcelona.