In an effort to humanize status updates and increase time-on-platform, Facebook rolls out its new AI-powered feature: ‘Did You Know?’. This tool introduces pre-written, personality-based prompts that encourage users to share personal thoughts and memories in a lightweight, gamified way.
Unlike traditional status updates, these prompts are presented with stylized backgrounds and use natural language generation to vary phrasing and tone. The result is a new kind of engagement mechanic—one that trades viral news for personal storytelling.
Strategic Insight
What’s your story? A platform seeking to reignite personal sharing.
What do you solve? The decline in user-generated content and reduced time spent on personal updates.
How do you do it? By injecting AI into prompt generation, enabling low-effort but emotionally resonant participation.
Why do they care? Because users crave connection and content that feels unique—even if it starts from a suggestion.
Fictional Ideas
A local nonprofit uses the ‘Did You Know?’ prompts to spotlight team members weekly. By resharing personal prompts with short bios and photos, they build community engagement and strengthen emotional connection with donors and volunteers.
References
TechCrunch. (2017). ‘Facebook’s AI-Powered Prompts Are Meant To Spark Status Updates’. https://techcrunch.com
The Verge. (2017). ‘Facebook Rolls Out New ‘Did You Know?’ Feature To Encourage Posting’. https://theverge.com
Facebook Newsroom. (2017). ‘Improving Personal Sharing with Prompts’. https://newsroom.fb.com
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