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 Faces New Questions Over the Distribution of CSAM Material in Its Apps
Meta continues to face questions over its CSAM enforcement efforts after new investigations found that many instances of child abuse content are still being distributed throughout Meta’s networks.
In response, Meta says that it’s now working in partnership with other platforms to improve their collective enforcement efforts, while it’s also improved its technology to identify offensive content. Meta’s also expanding its network detection efforts, which identify when adults, for example, are trying to get in contact with kids, with the process now also being deployed to stop pedophiles from connecting with each other in its apps.
2. US Judge Blocks Montana’s Effort to Ban TikTok
TikTok has won another reprieve in the U.S., with a district judge blocking Montana’s effort to ban the app for all users in the state.
Back in May, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation to ban TikTok outright from operating in the state, in order to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China. There’s no definitive evidence that TikTok is, or has participated in such, but Gianforte opted to move to a full ban, going further than the government device bans issued in other regions.
In response, a collection of TikTok users challenged the proposed ban, arguing that it violated their First Amendment rights, which led to this latest court challenge, and District Court Judge Donald Molloy’s decision to stop Montana’s ban effort.
3. TikTok Announces ‘Openhouse’ AR Showcase Event
TikTok is hosting a new, virtual showcase of its latest AR development elements, with an “Openhouse” event on December 12th, which will include various sessions that dig into its evolving AR development tools.
TikTok’s Effect House AR creation platform enables anybody to experiment with its advanced AR creation tools, and build their own interactive digital experiences within the app. The Openhouse event will provide insight into the latest advances and developments with the Effect House platform, while also providing in-depth overviews of how to create using its latest updates.
4. TikTok Says Users Spend Half Their Time in the App Watching Minute+ Long Clips
TikTok has said that users spend half of their time on the application watching clips that are at least 1 minute long. So, making clips with 1 minute or more length will possibly help creators enjoy more engagement from the users.
It is worth noting that YouTube came up with shorts to be on par with TikTok. Now, TikTok is taking the YouTube route by going for longer videos and clips. So, TikTok is making a paradigm shift in the field of content monetization.
5. X Adds Option To Embed Videos in Isolation From Posts
X will now enable users to choose whether they want to embed the video element in isolation, or the whole post, as normal. This can be a helpful way to present X-originated video on third-party websites without the clutter of the full X framing. But it could also reduce brand exposure for X, which is likely why Twitter didn’t enable this before, though it did once provide an “embedded video widget” which essentially served the same purpose.
6. X Experiments With Grok AI Access Buttons In-Stream
X is now looking to add a new Grok button to the lower function bar in the app, thereby, replacing the current Communities shortcut.
This will make it easier to consult Grok for analysis of content, or potentially to assist in post creation, while there’s also another Grok tab in the sidebar, providing alternative access. Currently, Grok is only available to selected users who have subscribed to X’s highest-priced “X Premium+” monthly subscription package, which currently costs $US16 per month. X is rolling out Grok access to Premium+ subscribers based on when they signed up to the program, as it gradually expands the presence of its AI chatbot tool.
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.