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 take a look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.
1. Twitter Makes ‘Community Notes’ Visible to All Users Globally
Twitter is opening up its Community Notes tweet context indicators to all users globally.
This means that all Twitter users can view Community Notes attached to tweets, but only US-based users can create them, though Twitter says that more contributors from other regions will be able to add notes to tweets soon. Twitter originally launched Community Notes - then called ‘Birdwatch’- in January last year, as a means to expand its efforts to combat misinformation in tweets.
2. Twitter Announces the Re-Launch of its Paid Verification Plan, with a Price Increase on iOS
After Twitter suspended its $8 verification plan early last month, just days after its initial launch, it’s now planning to restart the program once again, though with one significant tweak. Users that sign up on an iOS device will have to pay $11 per month - or $132 per year - to get their own blue checkmark, or alternatively, you can pay $8 per month if you sign up on the web.
This is because Twitter, evidently, has worked out that Apple’s 30% in-app payment tax will cut into the potential profits from the program too much, so rather than trying to work out an alternative system, or maybe give people even more for their dollar, Twitter’s instead looking to pass on the tax directly to users.
3. TikTok Faces More Legal Challenges Over Data Collection and its Failure to Protect Young Users
TikTok is facing yet another legal challenge in the US, with the State of Indiana filing a lawsuit that accuses TikTok and parent company ByteDance of violating the state’s consumer protection laws, and in particular, failing to safeguard young people and privacy.
Described in court documents as ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’, the suit alleges that TikTok ‘deceives and misleads’ consumers about the risks to their data, while also exposing youngsters to ‘a variety of inappropriate content’.
4. Reddit Launches its ‘Reddit Recap’ Activation for 2022, Provides New Usage Insights
Reddit has launched its 2022 Reddit Recap activation, which provides redditors with an overview of their activity in the app throughout the year – kind of like Spotify’s ‘Wrapped’, but for the subreddits that you most frequent.
Since its creation, Reddit Recap has aimed to give users a unique and entertaining way to look back at all the memorable times they’ve spent on the platform. This year, Reddit Recap contains a variety of fun and interesting stats that are translated and localized for users’ preferred languages, including a summary of time spent on the platform, content users have engaged with, and communities they viewed or joined.
5. Meta Adds New Creator Monetization Options for the Holidays, with a Focus on Stars Donations
Meta’s looking to encourage more use of Stars over the holiday break, with a range of new incentives and offers for the program.
From now until the end of the year, Meta’s offering limited-time, holiday-themed virtual gifts to make Stars donations even more enticing, while it’s also added new Stars Party bonus incentives for creators, which will help them generate even more revenue via Stars promotions.
Meta’s also looking to make it easier for creators to acknowledge those who send Stars, with a new filter in Comments Manager which displays all comments that were sent with Stars. Moreover, Meta’s rolling out themed virtual gifts to Facebook Reels, beginning with popular Reels topics, including pets, cars, fashion and dance.
6. Instagram Updates Account Status with New Insight into ‘Shadowbans’
Instagram’s looking to provide more transparency for creators with a new update to its in-app Account Status dashboard that will indicate whether your content is eligible to be recommended by its various systems, and will also provide pointers on how to rectify any issues on this front.
Instagram’s adding a new element to Account Status which will show whether your content is eligible for recommendation, as normal, or if there’s an issue with anything that you’ve posted. If you notice a yellow alert in your Account Status display, you can tap through to learn more, which will then display a sample of posts that could be in violation of Instagram’s rules, along with an explainer of why they may be in violation of platform policy.
7. YouTube Adds Chat Emotes, New Shorts Editing Tools and Automated Audio Dubbing in Other Languages
YouTube’s giving Shorts creators to capacity to choose a frame from their clip as their thumbnail within the Shorts creation process, starting with Android users. This means that creators can already choose a thumbnail for their Shorts within YouTube Studio, but this new process will make it easier to do so within the original upload flow, which could help to streamline the process.
YouTube has also publicly launched its new automated system for overdubbing your YouTube content into another language. YouTube’s also launching a new chat stream engagement option called ‘YouTube Emotes’, which will enable viewers to share little graphics within their comments on clips.
8. Meta’s Oversight Board Criticizes the Company’s More Lenient Moderation Approach for Celebrities
Meta’s Oversight Board has criticized the company’s differentiated moderation system for high-profile users, which can sometimes see rule-violating content from celebrities and politicians left up on the platform for months, while for regular users, the same would be removed in just days.
The comments are part of the Oversight Board’s review of Meta’s ‘Cross Check’ system, which adds an additional layer of moderation for high-profile users.
9. Snapchat Announces Paid Add Ons for AR Lenses, New AR Initiatives at Lens Fest 2022
Snapchat has announced a new AR experiment that will see a small group of creators and developers working on new Lenses that will include paid add-on elements, like alternative presentation formats and digital enhancements.
Snapchat has also reported that its broader AR ecosystem is expanding, with over 300,000 AR creators and developers taking part, contributing to more than 3 million AR Lenses via its creation tools.
10. Snapchat Launches New Bitmoji Clothing Drop in Partnership with Adidas
In a new partnership, Snapchat and adidas have teamed up to release a new line of exclusive Bitmoji clothing which, for the first time, can be purchased via tokens acquired in the app.
The new virtual jacket could be an eye-catching item for your Bitmoji character, which could make it a sought-after digital collectible within the app. But the purchase process in this instance is of the most interest.
As Snap notes, users will be able to buy the ITM track jacket in the app for 250 Snap Tokens. Tokens are purchasable in the app and can be exchanged for goods within Snapchat’s various shops and offers.
11. TikTok Shares the Top Clips, Creators, and Trends in the App for 2022
TikTok has published its fifth annual ‘Year on TikTok’ report, which provides an overview of all the creators, moments and trends that resonated the most in the app throughout the past 12 months.
TikTok’s Year in Review is separated into nine categories, namely FYFaves, TikTok Taught Me, The Playlist, Only on TikTok, Breakthrough Stars, The Hitmakers, Uncovered Communities, Eats on Repeat, and Loved by TikTok. That provides a range of angles and aspects, which could better inform your understanding of the app, and the key trends in various niches and elements.
12. Snapchat’s Experimenting with a New ‘Story Boost’ Option for Snapchat+ Subscribers
Snapchat’s looking to help Snapchat+ subscribers gain more visibility for their content in the app, via a new option in development called ‘Story Boost’, which would seemingly amplify their Stories to more viewers.
Discovered in the back-end code of the app by Alessandro Paluzzi, Story Boost would enable Snapchat+ users to ‘get more views’ on their stories, while friends wouldn’t be informed that they’ve used the option, saving the embarrassment of paying for reach.
Wrapping Up
And that was a wrap of this week’s Social Media Buzz. We’ll be back next Monday 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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