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 Fined $841M for Antitrust Breaches in EU

https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2024/11/15/327406.htm

Meta has copped another big fine in Europe, with the company being asked to pay €797.72 million ($US841 million) in penalties over breaches of EU antitrust rules related to the linking of Facebook Marketplace to Facebook, and the market advantages that provides for Facebook’s user-listed market service.

Back in 2022, the EU Commission alleged that Facebook was breaching local antitrust regulations by “distorting competition in markets for online classified ads” and abusing its dominant position. The Commission’s view was that Facebook was using the scale of its social network to give Facebook Marketplace an unfair advantage over other online classifieds providers, because Facebook users were being given access to Marketplace whether they wanted it or not.

The investigation has now come to a head, with EU officials announcing the massive fine, which could actually have been a lot higher, based on EU rules.

2. Facebook Switches to ‘Views’ as Its Primary Metric

https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/15/24297255/facebook-metrics-views-instagram

After Instagram announced that it was switching to “Views” as its primary focus metric back in August, Meta has now announced that Facebook will follow suit, while it’s also provided some additional guidance for brands as to how the re-focus on views will impact their data, and what that means for performance.

Back in August, Instagram announced that it was shifting away from variable content metrics, like “plays”, “impressions” and “accounts reached”, to a more uniform “views” count instead, with “views” taking over as the main metric for both video and image content. That aligns with Instagram’s shift towards more video content, while also simplifying its metrics, that had gotten more complex, given the different data points for posts, Stories, Reels, etc.

And Facebook will now also use this as its singular focus metric, shifting away from similar variable measurements.

3. Meta Slashes EU Facebook And Instagram Subscription Fees By 40%

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/12/meta-slashes-eu-facebook-instagram-subscription-fees-by-40percent.html

Meta has announced that it’s cutting the price of its ad-free subscription offering in the region by 40%, in the hopes of enhancing its appeal to regulatory groups.

Back in November last year, in response to new EU rules which dictate that social platforms have to offer an opt-out from targeted ads, Meta announced that it would provide a new, ad-free subscription offering for EU users, which would enable access to both Facebook and Instagram for €9.99 per month without any personal data gathering. That, in effect, met the new EU requirements, in that it would enable users to opt out of data sharing for ad purposes, while it would also ensure that Meta’s business was not significantly impacted by those doing so.

4. TikTok Expands Affiliate Marketing Program

https://web.swipeinsight.app/posts/tiktok-expands-shopping-with-major-affiliate-program-integration-12602

TikTok’s looking to make it easier for creators to post affiliate links, and earn commission for doing so, with an updated process for adding links from selected partners.

Some TikTok creators are now able to add affiliate links to their uploads, which then appear at the top of the comment stream. When tapped, they then take viewers direct to those product pages, driving direct traffic for these brands. The new initiative is part of an expanded TikTok affiliates program. TikTok is looking to encourage creators to add direct shopping links, which are added within the upload flow.

Only links from selected partners can be included, but it provides another way to both solidify TikTok’s connection to these brands, while also providing another monetization avenue for creators.

5. TikTok Adds Integrated Log-in for Lemon8

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/12/tiktok-launches-integration-with-lemon8-as-us-ban-looms/

TikTok has announced that TikTok users will now be able to access Lemon8 via their TikTok account, using the same login credentials for each app.

Lemon8, which gained traction in the U.S. last year, is a cross between Instagram and Pinterest, which ByteDance has been looking to use to expand its footprint with Western social media users. The app itself has actually been available since 2020, and has been somewhat popular in Asian nations. But based on the increased interest in the app last year, and combined with ByteDance’s broader in-stream shopping push, the company had hoped to establish another major app to partner with TikTok.

6. TikTok Announces Celebrity-Led Live Shopping Streams for the Holidays

https://www.tubefilter.com/2024/11/13/tiktok-shop-holiday-season-celebrity-streams-damelio-nicki-minaj/

TikTok has announced a star-studded slate of shoppable live streams that will go live in November and December.

The Chinese social media giant is set to host a range of celebrity-fronted live streams, featuring stars like the D’Amelio family and Nicki Minaj. TikTok is also hosting a range of major brands, offering major discounts, as part of its shopping activations for the season. Moreover, it is extending the return window for purchases made during the event, with shoppers able to return items through to February 10th.

7. TikTok Launches New Initiatives To Support Veterans

https://www.netinfluencer.com/tiktok-veteran-voices-launch/

TikTok has announced a new “Veterans Voices” initiative, which will see the company pledge $1 million to 10 non-profits that are dedicated to supporting veterans and their families.

The funding will be via a combination of direct cash and TikTok ad credits, which the chosen groups will then be able to use to raise further awareness of their projects. TikTok says that 1 in 3 U.S. veterans report using TikTok monthly. That explains why TikTok is launching a new veterans Creator Spotlight.

These veteran creators, who are actively working to educate TikTok users of the impacts of service, and the challenges that they face, will also be part of TikTok’s expanded veteran initiative, working with selected partner organizations to highlight ongoing fundraising and awareness efforts.

8. Instagram Moves Stories Highlights to Their Own Tab

https://www.neowin.net/news/instagram-now-preparing-to-move-your-story-highlights-into-their-own-dedicated-tab/

Instagram is now preparing to move your Story highlights bubbles from above the profile grid, and into their own section within your profile tabs. The new Story Highlights tab will be signified by a rounded heart icon. Within that, all of your Stories highlights will have their own, vertically aligned thumbnail image, with a separate one for each topic.

9. Instagram Makes It Easier To Remove Inactive Profiles From Your Audience

https://socialbarrel.com/instagram-is-rolling-out-the-ability-to-remove-inactive-accounts-from-your-audience/146053/

Instagram is now displaying how many inactive profiles are among your followers, so that you can remove them from your audience if you prefer. Now, when you tap through on your “Followers” listing from your IG profile, you’ll see a new category above the main list that shows “Deactivated accounts”, along with profiles that have been flagged for review, creator accounts, etc.

10. Instagram Is Removing the Option To Follow Hashtags

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2024/11/instagram-will-remove-its-following.html

Instagram is looking to counter hashtag spammers, by removing the option to follow hashtags from the app.

Spammers have long targeted trending hashtags with junk, adding irrelevant tags to their crappy posts in order to get more reach. There’s not really any way around this, and while Instagram does have some fairly advanced tools to filter out junk, it seems that a lot of users are still seeing a lot of irrelevant posts coming into their streams. So rather than continuing to try and combat these complaints, Instagram is removing the option entirely, which will eliminate this as an annoyance in this respect.

11. Instagram Says It Does Not Reduce the Reach of Sponsored Content

https://web.swipeinsight.app/posts/instagram-denies-reducing-reach-of-sponsored-content-12545

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has dismissed the rumor that Instagram deliberately downranks posts tagged as sponsored content, in order to force brands to pay for reach.

The common theory is that IG benefits from downranking these posts, as it’s another way to ensure that brands and their partners have to pay for additional reach. Though as some have pointed out, it could also be that IG users just engage with sponsored content less, and as soon as they see that “Sponsored” tag on a post, some just scroll on by, reducing engagement, and thus reach. So the reach “penalty” in this case is likely a side effect of the tag itself, and not an Instagram-initiated thing.

12. Instagram is Testing Simplified AI Profile Image Generation

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/instagram-reportedly-testing-ai-powered-profile-picture-generation-feature/ar-AA1tZeuE

Instagram is experimenting with a new option that would make it easier to generate an AI version of your profile image, facilitating a more stylized, artistic depiction of yourself in-stream.

Instagram’s sister app Facebook has also been experimenting with AI-generated profile images, while both TikTok and Snapchat have similar, in their respective “Dreams” and AI avatar creation options. So in some ways, this would be bringing Instagram into line with other social apps, in providing a simplified AI profile image generation option. Instagram, like every other social app, is keen to incorporate AI elements, in order to ensure that it rides the latest tech trend, and keeps up with the competition in this respect.

So, this would be bringing Instagram into line with other social apps, in providing a simplified AI profile image generation option.

13. Snapchat Adds New Safety Features, Including Live Location Requests

https://www.cnbctv18.com/technology/snapchat-rolls-out-new-teen-safety-features-for-family-center-19510278.htm

Snapchat’s adding a new safety feature to its Snap Map, with parents now able to request that their teen share their real time location in the app.

Its new function will enable parents to send a request through to their teen at any time, prompting the user to then share their live location. Parents will also be able to share their location back, helping to keep users and their family aware of where they are at any given time. It could be a good way to help reassure parents of their child’s location, making Snap a more valued connective app, and providing a simple means to keep tabs on their child, without being intrusive.

14. X Adds ‘Pinch to Zoom’ for Video

https://usa.inquirer.net/160654/x-enhances-video-playback-with-pinch-to-zoom-update

You can now pinch to zoom in on video clips in the app, so that you can get a better look at specific details in the frame.

X is now letting users know that they can zoom in on video clips, via a pop-up notification within the player. That’ll give you more ways to view video content and engage with clips, while also enabling you to pinpoint that thing that you saw moving in the background which may or may not be an alien that you swear you saw when it played through the first time around.

15. LinkedIn Adds ‘Open to Volunteer’ Option

https://web.swipeinsight.app/posts/linkedin-launches-open-to-volunteer-to-connect-members-with-nonprofit-opportunities-12651

LinkedIn is adding a new option to help users signal their interest in volunteer opportunities, and help charitable organizations find people looking to assist in their various causes.

LinkedIn’s new “Open to Volunteer” option will add a new informational tab to your profile which highlights what causes you’re interested in contributing to. LinkedIn members will be able to indicate their interest in volunteer opportunities by selecting the “Volunteer” option from the “Open to” drop down menu underneath their profile picture.

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.