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 Will Stop Paying Australian Publishers for Content as Part of Its Shift Away From News
Meta has announced that it will cease paying Australian news outlets as part of its broader shift away from news content.
Meta further notes that usage of Facebook News in Australia and the U.S. has dropped by over 80% in the last year. Meta says that the current agreements will be honored, but it will not be entering into new payment arrangements with Australian publishers.
Australia’s “News Media Bargaining Code” made international headlines when it was implemented in 2021 after failed negotiations with Meta led to all Australian publisher content being blocked on Facebook and Instagram. After rapid renegotiation, Meta lifted the ban, and agreed to pay Australian publishers a lesser amount for news content use. But the stand-off raised more questions as to the power that Facebook wields within the broader publishing landscape, and how much it actually needs, or doesn’t need, local news content.
2. TikTok Launches Live Test of Option to Automatically Identify Products in User Uploads
TikTok continues to expand its in-stream shopping push, in the hopes of evolving usage behavior, with its new option to make any object in any video “shoppable” now in live testing for some users.
Some users are now seeing a new toggle within the video upload flow that enables them to switch on “Identify Similar Objects”, which, when activated, will then identify objects in your videos, via TikTok’s object identification AI, and highlight potential product matches that you can purchase in the app. TikTok’s been exploring the option for some time, with Bloomberg reporting last month that TikTok would be moving to expanded testing of the process.
3. TikTok Shares Insights with Monthly Trends Digest
TikTok has launched a new monthly “Trends Digest” series, which will provide an overview of the latest trends that are gaining traction in the app, with additional notes on how you can incorporate each into your content approach.
TikTok says that it’s identified its trending list by taking a broader view of what’s gaining traction, as opposed to smaller “moments” and fads. TikTok further explains that every trend is made up of four key elements, which defines the broader topic- trend message, associated hashtags, sonic identity, and visual narrative.
4. Instagram Experiments with New ‘Friend Map’ Live Location Display
Instagram has confirmed that it is indeed working on a new “Friend Map” display in the app, which is pretty much Snap Map (Instagram’s version).
Instagram’s Friend Map will enable your friends to see where you are and where you’ve been, with all posts and Stories tagged with a location added to the map display. The opt-in functionality could also show both live location and past visits, depending on your settings. Users will be able to choose which of their friends can see their map, while Instagram’s also looking to build in a dedicated Notes functionality so that you can leave comments in different locations.
5. Instagram Tests Live-Stream Games to Enhance Engagement
Instagram’s testing out some new options to help spice up your live-streams in the app, with some live broadcasters now able to select a game that they can play with viewers in-stream.
Some creators now have the option to play either “This or That,” a question and answer prompt that you can share with your viewers, or “Trivia”, to generate more engagement within your IG live-streams. That could be a simple way to spark more conversation and interaction, which could then lead to further engagement opportunities from your live audience. Meta’s been exploring more ways to make live-streaming a bigger consideration for IG creators, with a view to live-streams potentially catching on with more users.
6. X Will Soon Show Your Pinned Posts to All of Your Followers in the App
X owner Elon Musk has announced that all your Pinned posts will now be seen by all of your followers in the app.
As Musk notes, you’ll only be able to get this boost from one post every 48 hours, so you won’t be able to get the same level of amplification with every update that you pin. But if you have an important message that you want all of your followers to see, you’ll now have at least one way to maximize messaging reach, in limited form.
7. X Adds Video Playback Quality Controls In-Stream
X will now allow users to choose the quality of the video playback in-stream, providing them with more ways to customize their video viewing experience.
Now, when you tap on the gear icon along the bottom bar of the video playback on X, you’ll see a new option to choose video playback quality, which actually goes up to 1080p (though that mustn’t have been piped down to Australia as yet). That’ll ensure that you see top quality video playback in the app, depending on your network connection. The default setting remains “auto”, which will optimize the playback based on your capacity, but you will now be able to manually change the playback quality based on your preferences.
8. X Adds New ‘Monetization’ Tab To Help Creators Keep Track of Pending Payouts
X has added a new “Monetization” tab for X Premium subscribers, to make it easier for those looking to make money in the app to keep track of their performance on X’s evolving income elements.
X Premium members are now able to access a new “Monetization” element within their in-app menu display. Tapping on that will take you through to a listing of X’s various monetization pathways, where you’ll also be able to get an estimate of your pending payout within the current period.
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.