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 Announces Coming Expansion of Meta Verified Program to All Regions
Meta has announced the expansion of its Meta Verified subscription package to all regions. Originally launched back in February for Australian and New Zealand users, Meta has been steadily expanding access to the option, which gives paying users a verified blue checkmark on Facebook or Instagram, access to dedicated account support to streamline response, as well as other features, for $11.99 per month – or $14.99 per month when purchased via mobile apps.
2. Meta Publishes New Guide on How to Create Standout Reels Content
Meta has published a new, 7-page ‘Reels Creative Mini-Manual’, which outlines a range of tips on how to improve your Reels creative, and tap into key usage trends and behaviors.
The main focus of the guide is helping creators speak the ‘language of Reels’, which Meta describes as ’a style that’s entertaining, digestible and relatable all at once’. The guide provides more in-depth analysis of this approach, including breakdowns of the key technical considerations.
3. TikTok Discontinues its ‘TikTok Now’ BeReal Clone
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/27/23775125/tiktok-now-discontinued-notification-bereal-murder-clone
TikTok has become the latest social platform to step back from the BeReal trend, with the announcement that it’s retiring ‘TikTok Now’, its copycat functionality that it launched in September last year.
TikTok Now was launched as an in-app functionality in some markets, and a separate app in others. It’s not clear if the solo app will be shuttered, but the in-app option will soon be no more. The option will soon be ‘discontinued’, though users will still be able to access their previously posted TikTok Now content in the app.
4. TikTok Expands Creator Monetization Features with Subscriber-Only Videos
TikTok’s rolling out yet another creator monetization option, with the addition of subscriber-only videos, which will enable creators to share exclusive content with paying subscribers in the app.
The feature will be built into the LIVE Subscriptions package that TikTok launched last year, which enables live-streamers to generate recurring revenue from their efforts, by sharing regular exclusive streams with their paying audience. Now they’ll also be able to share non-live content as well, providing another incentive to win over more users.
5. TikTok Updates Data Usage Regulations in Line with Evolving Regional Laws
TikTok’s announced an update to its policies around the data it uses to target users with ads, as it looks to move into line with evolving EU privacy laws, as well as broader industry shifts.
The main change relates to teen users specifically, with TikTok moving to eliminate the use of off-platform activity as an element in its ad targeting process for youngsters. The update will bring TikTok into line with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which comes into effect in the coming months, and outlines new provisions that limit the use of data to target young users.
6. TikTok Adds Keyword Filtering for Parents to Limit Their Kids’ Exposure in the App
TikTok’s giving parents more tools to manage the content that their kids are exposed to in the app, with an updated element of its Family Pairing option that’ll enable parents to block videos based on custom keywords, in addition to its existing mature content filters.
In addition to TikTok’s in-built content levels filtering, parents will now also be able to eliminate personally offensive or concerning content from their kids’ feeds. Keyword filtering will only apply to videos that include your chosen keywords in the description, or in stickers included in the clip, so it won’t eliminate all instances of said content. But it could provide another way to limit exposure to potentially disturbing material in the app.
7. TikTok Launches ‘Creative Challenge’ to Provide More Income Opportunities for Creators
TikTok’s adding another way to bring creators and brands together, with a new Creative Challenge initiative, which will enable creators to essentially pitch brands with their clips, in the hopes of earning money via ad partnerships.
The new program will enable creators to join a brand posted challenge, for which they’ll then post content that the brand will be able to review for potential paid collaboration. TikTok says that once creators join the program, they’ll also have access to various assistive resources, including a dedicated Creator Community group and a Mentor Program that’ll connect you with other creators to share knowledge.
8. Twitter Announces New Version of TweetDeck, Which Will Soon Become a Twitter Blue Exclusive
Twitter has announced that TweetDeck will soon be a Twitter Blue exclusive, meaning that users of its native tweet management platform will soon have to pay up to keep scheduling their tweets via the app.
As Twitter notes, TweetDeck will become a Twitter Blue exclusive in 30 days' time A new version of TweetDeck is now available, which includes several minor updates on the TweetDeck Preview that it launched back in July 2021. Twitter’s been trying to add more elements into its Twitter Blue offering, as a means to boost take-up, while Twitter has also been considering making TweetDeck a paid tool since as far back as 2021, when it first launched its updated preview.
9. Twitter Implements Usage Limits for All to Combat Data Scrapers
Twitter has taken the extreme step of essentially restricting users from viewing tweets, in an effort to address what Elon describes as ‘extreme levels of data scraping’.
Twitter has restricted both verified and unverified usage at different thresholds, which Musk says is a necessary step to stop data scrapers. The gamble that Twitter’s taking is that maybe this prompts more people to log in, where it can show them more targeted ads. But the risk is that they don’t, and Twitter loses reach and relevance as a result.
10. New Report Suggests That Hate Speech via Tweet Has Increased Under Elon Musk
A report by the Anti-Defamation League has revealed that hate speech on Twitter is up, year-over-year, with several platforms seeing a rise in abusive language over the past 12 months.
The report, based on a survey of 2,139 US adults, conducted in March this year, found that instances of harassment were up on Reddit, Twitter, TikTok, and WhatsApp specifically, underlining ongoing concerns about behavioral shifts, and each platforms’ capacity to address such. However, it’s worth noting that Facebook is where the majority of online harassment still takes place.
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.