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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 Announces Dates for Its 2024 Connect VR/AI Conference



Meta has locked in its 2024 Connect conference dates, where it will showcase its latest developments in AI, V.R., and its expanding and expensive, metaverse vision.



Meta Connect 2024 will be held on September 25th and 26th, with both IRL and webcast components, in Menlo Park and everywhere. Entering its third year, Connect has become a platform for Meta to launch groundbreaking developments. Past announcements have included AI chatbots, updates to its Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, and new Quest VR models.


2. TikTok Implements Protection Measures Ahead of UK Election



With the U.K. General Election date now official, TikTok has announced a new, dedicated in-app General Election centre, which will provide reliable and authoritative information for users ahead of the poll.



Partnering with Logically Facts, TikTok will offer media literacy tips and key voting information from the Electoral Commission. Users will be directed to the Election Centre through prompts and labels on relevant content and searches. This initiative follows a similar approach taken during recent local elections in England and Wales.


3. Instagram Is Experimenting With Virtual Pets for Stories



Instagram is developing a new sticker called PALS, allowing users to raise a virtual puppy in their Story.



This new sticker enables users to raise a virtual pet in their Story by accumulating likes, reminiscent of the beloved 1990s virtual pet, the Tamagotchi. The concept is simple yet addictive: after adding the sticker to your Story, your virtual pet (a cat, dog, dinosaur, or dragon) starts as a small, adorable baby. As more people like your Story, your virtual pet will grow and evolve.


4. Instagram Adds New Features for Broadcast Channels



Instagram has announced some updates to its Broadcast Channels option for creators, which provides a private, one-way chat stream to keep your audience informed of important updates.



First off, you can now run IG Live broadcasts for channel members only, providing another incentive for people to sign up to your broadcast chat. Channel owners can now start a live stream within the channel, which only channel members will be able to engage with. Instagram says this will provide more opportunities to connect with your most loyal fans. Instagram’s also adding custom themes for broadcast channels, enabling you to add any picture you want as the background for your chat.


Channel owners can also now choose which emojis their community can and can’t react to within the chat, while it’s also adding QR codes that connect people back to your channel.


5. Snapchat Launches New Ad Campaign To Promote Connection



Snapchat has launched a new campaign to promote togetherness and community in the app. The campaign, “Less Likes. More Love”, follows the platform “Less Social Media. More Snapchat” spot which launched earlier this year as part of its brand’s efforts to highlight the connective role that Snap plays in bringing people together.



The key emphasis of the promotion is that Snapchat isn’t about broadcasting your life to strangers, but is more focused on connecting with friends and maintaining relationships with your closest buddies. The new campaign will also run online and on TV in the US and UK.


6. Pinterest Launches Promotional Campaign to Highlight Discovery



Pinterest has launched another new promotional campaign as it seeks to boost awareness among potential ad partners, this time by highlighting the benefits of the platform in connecting users with a wide variety of interests.



Pinterest says its new campaign aims to highlight “how the platform turns the journey of self-discovery into a true adventure,” through fantastical scenes incorporating various popular interests. The platform’s latest effort to boost revenue intake follows an earlier promotional push. While Pinterest has continued to see steady usage growth over the past few years, among people who come to the app with high shopping intent, it hasn’t been able to capitalize on its revenue opportunities as yet.


7. X Updates Policies To Allow Sexual Content in the App



Social media giant X has updated its policy on adult content, which means that “consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior” is now officially allowed in the app.



X says that it still has strong rules against “content promoting exploitation, nonconsent, objectification, sexualization or harm to minors, and obscene behaviors”, while it also won’t allow adult content to be shown in profile photos or profile banners. So overall, its restrictions haven’t changed, but it will now be more open to adult material.


8. X Is Testing Advanced Account Analytics Features


After many years of providing minimal metrics, the X team is experimenting with new insights elements, which will soon enable you to sort your audience data into more specific date ranges and metrics.



X’s updated analytics display will give you more insight into how you’re performing on various measures, which you can sort by more time parameters in the main display. X has only provided basic metrics since it removed its Audience Insights advanced data tools back in 2020. However, X is also looking to bring some of its demographic insights back.


9. Australia’s eSafety Commission Drops Its Case Against X



Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has announced that she is abandoning a removal notice put to X regarding footage of a stabbing in a Sydney church.



Back in April, a Sydney church leader was stabbed in what authorities later deemed to be a terrorist act. As such, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner requested that X remove video footage of the incident, globally, due to concerns that it could spark further angst and unrest in the community. But X refused, noting that while it would block the video for Australian users, the eSafety Commissioner had no right to demand global censorship of the clip. That led to the Commission launching legal action against the Elon Musk-owned app, which it’s now canceling. 


10. LinkedIn Adds Premium Video Ad Placement, More AI Ad Tools



LinkedIn is adding a new ad placement option, in order to tap into rising video consumption in the app, while it’s also integrating more AI capabilities for putting together your ad creative.



First off, LinkedIn is launching a new video sponsorship program called “The Wire,” which will enable brands to run in-stream video ads aligned with trusted publisher content. Brands will now be able to choose specific pre-roll placement with selected publishers, which could help to maximize and add credibility to your promotions.


LinkedIn is also adding more AI capabilities into its ad tools, via new elements for its fully automated “Accelerate” ad option. Marketers using Accelerate will also now be able to add targeting exclusions via company and third-party lists, while it’s also adding more AI recommendations on how to refine and improve your ads.


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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