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 Offers Money Back Guarantee for Verified Subscribers
Meta has introduced a money-back guarantee for its "Meta Verified" subscription, which costs $14.99 per month and offers a blue checkmark, enhanced account support, and other features.
The 14-day money-back guarantee allows users to try the service and potentially cancel after resolving any issues, effectively getting free enhanced support. Meta's push for more subscribers aims to generate supplemental income, estimated at around $150 million per quarter, equating to approximately 3 million subscribers. This strategy mirrors broader industry trends where the value of the blue checkmark is diminishing as it becomes a purchasable feature rather than a symbol of noteworthiness.
2. TikTok Is Exploring a US-Only Version of Its Feed Algorithm
The TikTok algorithm could be split, claims a report, with a US-only version used for the hugely popular app to try to avoid a ban. Developer Bytedance has tweeted that the report is not accurate, but its message appears to be more a repetition of its legal stance than a specific denial.
This may be another path to TikTok remaining in operation in America, though it remains to be seen if it’s even possible to replicate TikTok’s algorithms in any lesser form, given the various parameters are qualifiers that are built into its system.
3. US Appeals Court Fast-Tracks Hearing Over TikTok Sell-Off
Another element of TikTok’s pushback against the U.S. sell-off push is set to be fast-tracked by the Court of Appeals, with a suit initiated by a group of TikTok creators against the bill to be heard in September, a month ahead of time.
This could help TikTok win a critical legal case against what it sees as an effective ban of the app, which may strengthen its broader challenge of the bill. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered the case set for oral arguments in September after TikTok, ByteDance and a group of TikTok content creators joined with the Justice Department earlier last month in asking the court for a quick schedule.
4. Instagram Allows Meta Verified Users to Restrict DM Requests To Other Paying Users Only
Instagram will now enable all Meta Verified subscribers to restrict their DM requests to other verified users only, adding another perk for paying users.
Verified users on IG are either notable accounts, as identified by Instagram’s team, or paying users who’ve signed up to Meta’s Verified program, so conceptually, this setting would enable you to filter out more junk requests and ensure that only serious queries are coming in via your DMs. Interestingly, it also replicates a feature that Elon Musk and Co. added for X Premium subscribers last year, which enables paying users to restrict DMs to other paying members only.
5. Instagram Is Testing Video Ads That Stop You From Scrolling Further
Instagram is currently testing out a new video ad format that does indeed stop users from scrolling in the main feed of the app until they’ve viewed a video ad.
Instagram’s new in-feed ad units appear with a timer at the bottom, and you can’t scroll past the ad till the timer runs down. Instagram testing the ad break feature is similar to YouTube’s ad method where their platform requires users of its free version of the platform to view advertisements before they’re able to watch videos. Instagram currently displays sponsored posts and advertisements between the content users scroll through in their feed or Reel.
6. Instagram Rolls Out New Notes Features, Including Likes
Instagram is adding “Notes Prompts,” which will enable users to initiate conversations in the app based on templated queries. Notes Prompts will enable you to spark conversations that friends and mutual friends can respond to. This could be another way to drive more engagement in the app, by providing a simple query that others can engage with.
Instagram will also now enable you to use @ mentions in Notes, to make more direct contact with your prompts. It is also adding Notes Likes so that you can react to Notes without having to add your thoughts.
7. Snapchat Announces Voter Awareness Initiatives Ahead of EU Elections
With the European General Elections coming up next month, Snapchat has announced some new initiatives to encourage civic participation among EU residents.
To help raise awareness, Snap has launched a new AR election Lens, in conjunction with the European Parliament, which encourages people to get out and vote. Snap says that it’ll be sharing this Lens with all EU Snapchatters, along with a message to remind them to vote, and a link to the Parliament’s election website.
In addition to new Lenses, Snap is also partnering with the European Parliament and European Commission to promote their ’Use your vote’ information campaign on elections, while it also continues to monitor for misinformation and threats to the democratic process.
8. Pinterest Expands Inclusion Fund With Shopify Partnership
Pinterest has announced a new expansion of its Pinterest Inclusion Fund, which provides support for creators from underrepresented communities to help them grow and cultivate their business potential in the app. And now, Pinterest will be able to provide even more support on this front, with Shopify coming on board as a partner for the initiative.
The Inclusion Fund, which Pinterest initially launched in 2021, has provided support for over 150 content producers thus far, facilitating expanded offerings and opportunities in the app. Applications are open to businesses that are at least 50% owned and operated by those from underrepresented communities, or stock 70% or more of their products from sources that support consumers from the same.
9. OpenAI Cracks Down on Covert Influence Campaigns
OpenAI disclosed that it took steps to cut off five covert influence operations (IO) originating from China, Iran, Israel, and Russia that sought to abuse its artificial intelligence (AI) tools to manipulate public discourse or political outcomes online while obscuring their true identity.
These activities, which were detected over the past three months, used its AI models to generate short comments and longer articles in a range of languages, cook up names and bios for social media accounts, conduct open-source research, debug simple code, and translate and proofread texts. The AI research organization said two of the networks were linked to actors in Russia, including a previously undocumented operation codenamed Bad Grammar that primarily used at least a dozen Telegram accounts to target audiences in Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltic States, and the United States (U.S.) with sloppy content in Russian and English.
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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