Social Media Buzz Weekly: Roundup of Social Media Updates
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 Tests Reels-First Facebook Feed in India
Meta has started testing a new Facebook user experience in India that opens the app directly to full-screen video for some users, putting Reels ahead of the traditional Feed.
The test was first outlined in July by Tom Alison, Head of Facebook, as part of Meta’s plans to make the platform more focused on video. Alison said the company would begin testing the experience later in the year in ‘video-heavy countries’ outside the US, without naming the markets. Users included in the test can opt out and return to the Feed-first experience, the company said. The traditional Feed will remain available as a separate tab in the Facebook app.
2. Meta Removes Access Verification for Developers
Meta has quietly rolled out an update to its business usage rules, which will reduce the checks it has in place for businesses that want to use its user data.
Under the change, developers will no longer need to submit business details for a separate Access Verification review or wait for its outcome before launching their apps. The company will also remove the Access Verification form, its prerequisites, and status field from the App Dashboard. API endpoints that previously rejected requests from businesses without an approved Access Verification status will no longer conduct this check.
3. Pinterest Expands Creator Content Promotions
Pinterest is looking to give creators more exposure opportunities, while also providing brands with more promotional options by enabling businesses to sponsor creator Pins. The option will expand Pinterest’s content monetization tools by enabling brands to seek out and boost creator content related to their products, even if a product hasn’t been explicitly tagged as part of a pre-arranged sponsorship.
Creators can then choose to allow the promotion or not, and creators can also opt out entirely, disallowing all brand promotions at the account level. Pinterest already offers several variations of sponsored content, through which creators tag a brand or company they have an established partnership with in a post.
4. X Adds Liveness Check to Counter Bots
X is adding another element to its ongoing fight against bot accounts, with a new liveness check option that will provide another means to test suspect accounts and make them prove they’re being managed by a human.
X users will also be able to use hand motion check, which will instruct users to simply wave a hand in front of their camera to prove they’re human. X is developing a new age-checking process, powered by Grok, in order to align with evolving age restriction regulations in some regions. The platform also maintains a relationship with third-party ID verification partner Au10tix to enable access to certain elements.
5. X Launches MLB Gametime Experience
Following the launch of an expanded NFL Gametime experience in August, X is now extending its Gametime experience to more sports, in order to provide a more focused way for sports fans to engage with others in the app.
X’s updated NFL Gametime experience provides a dedicated game-day hub for NFL games, with a real-time overview of key plays alongside related posts about each game. X’s next sports league to get the Gametime treatment is MLB, with more sports to follow. The hub shows real-time scores, play-by-play updates, league news, and creator commentary during games. It also pulls in related posts and discussions from across the platform. The NFL feed will run through the 2027 Super Bowl, and the two organizations have maintained a partnership since 2013.
6. X Launches AI-Powered Ad Creation Option
X has announced a new X Lift ad option at Advertising Week New York, which is an automated ad creation process that can convert a business’s URL into a series of ad options in just a few clicks.
X Lift aims to make it easier for brands to launch X ads by reducing the manual setup steps that can bog down and complicate the process. With X Lift, advertisers enter their URL and X’s AI ad generation system provides a range of ad options, including images and copy, which the advertiser can choose from for a campaign. The X Lift process can also build an entire campaign, including targeting. Advertisers just need to set a budget, and the system can do the heavy lifting.
7. AI Favors Brands with an Active Social Media Presence
A new study by SE Ranking has found that maintaining an active presence on social media platforms can help brands increase their visibility in artificial intelligence-generated search results, with AI chatbots commonly citing links to social media posts within their answers to user queries.
The team from SE Ranking analyzed 100,000 keywords across a range of brand niches in order to understand which sources were most commonly displayed in both Google results and AI chatbot responses. The data showed that social platform links appeared in 67.66% of Google AI overview responses, 32.39% of Google AI Mode replies and 8.4% of ChatGPT answers.
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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