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Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates

  • Writer: ClickInsights
    ClickInsights
  • 6 hours ago
  • 6 min read

Welcome to Social Media Buzz Weekly, your weekly bulletin of the latest social media updates. With the social media landscape evolving with each passing day, it can be challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments. Well, not anymore, as we have taken it upon ourselves to keep you abreast of every happening in the social media space.


So, without any further ado, let’s look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.


1. Meta AI Adds Additional Safety Measures



Meta added new alerts for parents whose kids discuss sensitive topics with Meta AI. First, Meta will alert parents when their children engage in AI discussions related to suicide and/or self-harm. When a teen engages in self-harm-related chats with Meta AI, parents will be sent an alert, which also includes links to relevant support resources.



Meta is also developing a new system that will contact emergency services when any conversation with Meta AI regardless of age group suggests that the user may be at imminent risk of suicide. Moreover, Meta reiterated that teens who engage in discussions with Meta AI are automatically opted into its 13+ content setting, which is designed to give age-appropriate responses, and to not comply with sensitive prompts.


2. Meta Used AI to Tag Workers Who Took Leave to Be Laid Off, Lawsuit Claims



Dozens of Meta employees have sued the social media company over claims that it used artificial intelligence tools to tag workers for mass layoffs. The workers allege that those AI tools targeted them after they asked for protected or maternity leave or disability accommodation.



The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the northern district of California, points to Meta’s workforce reduction of about 8,000 employees earlier this year. The suit alleges that Meta used a “constellation of internal artificial intelligence systems”, including AI performance ratings and keystroke- and activity-monitoring data, to pinpoint who to lay off. The company did not “neutralize” those inputs to account for protected leave, nor did it exclude those who had taken protected leave or sought accommodations from the layoff selection, the workers alleged.


3. TikTok Partners With NBA and WNBA



TikTok has announced new partnership deals with the NBA and WNBA to offer exclusive content in the app. Basketball is rising in popularity on TikTok, and the company is looking to connect with that fanbase and drive more sports engagement through collaborations such as these.



TikTok added that fans of women’s basketball in particular are turning to the platform for updates, “with 64% choosing TikTok as their go-to destination.” These new deals will see both leagues post exclusive app content from marquee events, including All-Star games and in-season tournaments. This could also have a significant impact on live game viewing and engagement because of how it leans into evolving sports consumption behaviors.


4. Instagram Will Charge for AI Access



Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri has confirmed that Instagram users will have to pay for access to future in-app AI tools.



As part of his weekly Q&A on Instagram Stories, Mosseri replied to a user question about restrictions on the usage of Meta’s latest generative AI features for image and video generation. Mosseri said Instagram is shifting to a more defined subscription model for its AI tools. Meta recently launched its Instagram Plus add-on subscription package, which doesn’t specifically include AI add-on elements yet. Though as noted by Mosseri, the company has implemented restrictions on the use of effects that are powered by its latest Muse image model. When Instagram users reach the limit, they’re told they need to subscribe to Meta to continue using its AI tools.


5. X Offers Mention Boosts to Premium Business Subscribers



X launched a new advertising option called Mentions Boost, which will let brands pay to increase the reach of any post mentioning them. When a brand is mentioned in an organic post by an X user, there will now be an option to boost that mention, converting customer endorsements into a paid campaign. Brands will be able to set a budget and determine the duration of each boost.



Organic mentions can be a powerful promotional tool. Indeed, LinkedIn recently published data demonstrating that B2B buyers were three times more likely to choose a brand that’s been recommended by peers. As such, Mention Boosts could be a valuable addition to X promotions by capitalizing on the testimony of regular users to endorse brands and products. X said the update is an expansion of its standard Boost option, which launched in September. The feature lets users increase the reach of their own posts with paid spend.


6. Elon Musk Says He Will Open-Source X Codebase



X owner Elon Musk has said that X will fully open-source the app’s codebase to increase transparency and ideally win more trust from platform users. Musk added that X will invite third-party reviewers to examine the system running in the app to confirm that the open-source code is what’s being used.



In 2023, just months after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk published a version of the app’s feed algorithm in GitHub, which, at that time, he vowed to maintain with regular updates, so that anybody could see how posts are ranked and displayed in-stream. However, the data shared was only a partial listing, with various elements withheld from public display. The code was also never updated, despite Musk’s promises, which left many frustrated at the apparent lack of transparency, despite Musk’s pledge. Though that hasn’t stopped Musk from continually referring to the published code data as a demonstration of X’s transparency. He has also said that X is the only platform that shares this level of insight, without acknowledging that he hasn’t exactly shared the insight he promised.


7. X Updates Its Engagement Bait Detection



X continues to refine its creator incentive program with its latest target being engagement baiters and users who repost other people’s content. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, said in a post on X that users who directly ask other users for engagement will be removed from the platform’s creator revenue share program.



Bier said that X’s Grok artificial intelligence system is now more effective at catching these violations, which will ensure that the X team is able to stay on top of users looking to game its revenue-share system. In the same post, Bier said X has updated its models for detecting duplicated content, in alignment with its latest rules about how original creators get paid. In April, X announced a system designed to better identify original creators and penalize aggregators in order to remove the incentive for users to steal other people’s posts. Now X is expanding this push, with improved detection of re-purposed and remixed uploads.


8. Google Images Introduces Pinterest-Style UI



Google has launched an updated UI for Google Images, which makes the gallery look more akin to Pinterest. The company also added an artificial intelligence-powered tool to generate images that can be used as the basis for a search.



First, Google Images is rolling out a new format that features a dynamic, immersive gallery of images from across the web– updated in real time and intelligently tailored to the users’ unique interests. The format seems to replicate the visual style of Pinterest. Google also added a collections option, which is also similar to Pinterest, and lets users save images to dedicated folders, accessible via the image search screen. Essentially, Google Images is taking inspiration from Pinterest on two fronts in order to provide more discovery options and enhance image search. Google has also announced an AI-powered image generation feature within Search, which will let users generate an image that they can then use as a basis for discovery. Google said this new feature will allow searchers to bring their unique ideas to life.


9. France’s Parliament Approves Social Media Ban for Children Under 15, in EU First



France’s parliament has approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making France the first European country to bar children from apps such as TikTok. After approval by the Senate, members of the National Assembly passed the bill by 279 votes to 81.



President Emmanuel Macron has championed the ban as a flagship reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September. A growing number of countries are taking steps to restrict social media access amid multiplying warnings over its harmful effects on children. The ban was to be rolled out in two stages, with under-15s blocked from creating new accounts from September 1. The ban would apply to existing accounts from January 2027, according to the legislation.


Wrapping Up

And that was a wrap of this week’s Social Media Buzz. We’ll be back next week with more news and updates for you from the social media world. Till then, stay tuned!


If you want to read more on the latest developments taking place in the social media space, take a look at ClickInsights’ Social Media Buzz, wherein we bring to you monthly reports on everything going on in social media, ranging from platform updates to policy changes that influence the way we market.

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