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 Partners with NCMEC on New Program to Help Youngsters Avoid Distribution of Intimate Images

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/02/helping-prevent-the-spread-of-young-peoples-intimate-images-online/

Meta has announced a new initiative to help young people avoid having their intimate photos distributed online, with both Instagram and Facebook joining the ‘Take It Down’ program, a new process created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which provides a way for youngsters to safely detect and action images of themselves on the web.

Meta says that the new program will enable both young people and parents to action concerns, providing more reassurance and safety, without compromising privacy by asking them to upload copies of their images, which could cause more angst.

2. Meta Updates Enforcement Rules to Focus on Explanations, Not Suspensions

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/02/meta-is-improving-facebooks-penalty-system/

Meta is updating its approach to platform penalties, in line with recommendations from its independent Oversight Board, which will put more focus on explaining why content has been removed, as opposed to arbitrary suspensions.

The Oversight Board has consistently criticized Meta’s lack of transparency in its enforcement decisions, and this new update aims to align with that push, which Meta believes will lead to better long-term outcomes and less angst from users.

3. Meta’s ‘Widely Viewed Content Report’ Highlights Top Content Trends on Facebook

https://transparency.fb.com/en-gb/data/widely-viewed-content-report/

Meta has released the latest version of its Widely Viewed Content Report, which aims to dispel the notion that Facebook’s algorithms favor divisive, argumentative, political content, with the actual data showing that what the majority of Facebook users actually see in their feeds is far more mundane.

Previous versions of the Widely Viewed Content Report have shown that many of the most viewed posts and stories were actually, eventually removed for violating Meta’s terms of service, so while Meta’s looking to highlight that it doesn’t facilitate the spread of harmful information, it’s actually done the opposite in some respects.

4. Meta Outlines Actions on Spam, Fake Accounts, and Violations in the Latest Community Standards Report

https://transparency.fb.com/data/community-standards-enforcement/spam/facebook/

Meta has released its latest community standards enforcement overview, which outlines how many violations of its rules it’s detecting across its apps, and the subsequent actions taken as a result. The report includes data on hate speech removals, restricted goods, fake accounts, and more.

5. Meta Announces Initial Test of ‘Meta Verified’ Paid Verification Scheme on Facebook and IG

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/02/testing-meta-verified-to-help-creators/

Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Meta’s launching a test of a paid verification program, much like Twitter’s $8 verification scheme.

Meta says that two of its most requested features are better access to verification and account support, while creators are always looking for more ways to increase their visibility. The new program will cater to all of these, and will initially be priced at $11.99 per month on the web, or $14.99 p/m on iOS and Android, with the latter covering the respective App Store fees.

6. Canada Becomes the Latest Region to Ban TikTok on Government-Owned Devices

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada-bans-tiktok-from-government-devices

Canada has become the latest jurisdiction to ban TikTok on government-owned devices, with the Canadian Government calling on staff to remove the app from all government mobile devices by March 1st, due to concerns around potential data collection and misuse.

This follows similar calls from EU security officials last week, and the expanding, state-based bans on US government-operated devices.

7. TikTok Announces New Support Initiatives for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/eating-disorders-awareness-week-2023

TikTok has announced that it’s partnering with the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and the National Alliance for Eating Disorders to highlight critical information.

It’s also working with various creators to showcase key resources and tools to help those who may be suffering from eating-related issues. The main element of TikTok’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week push will be these in-app alerts, which will share more information and links.

8. TikTok Announces New Brand Safety and Suitability Partners

https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/introducing-brand-safety-suitability-partners

TikTok has announced a new set of official measurement partners, which will provide third-party data on TikTok ads placement and performance, in order to provide more reassurance to ad partners.

TikTok advertisers have been working with these providers to measure their campaigns over the past few years, but now, TikTok is officially endorsing them and working with each to improve their respective processes.

9. TikTok Announces New Integration with Mercedes Benz to Display TikTok Content on In-Car Screens

https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/22/tiktok-is-coming-to-cars-starting-with-mercedes-benz/

TikTok has announced a new partnership with Mercedes Benz which will see TikTok content directly integrated into the ‘superscreen’ of the new E-Class car. The partnership aims to bring TikTok to more users through another means, with the platform fed directly into the in-car displays, providing direct entertainment.

10. TikTok’s Expanding Access to its Research API, Enabling More Analysis of How it Works

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/21/23604737/tiktok-research-api-expansion-public-user-data-transparency

TikTok has announced that it will now allow more researchers to access and analyze its dataset, in order to provide more insight into how the platform works.

The expanded access will enable more research teams to dig into TikTok usage data, and uncover key trends and user behaviors, which could help to highlight the potentially harmful impacts of recommendations based on AI detection in the app.

11. TikTok Provides New Insights into Best Performing Products, Based on Ad Content

https://www.redmention.com/news/tiktok-gives-new-insights-into-finest-performing-merchandise-based-mostly-on-advert-content-material/

TikTok has added a new element to its Creative Center which highlights how popular specific products are in the app, based on the number of ads posted that feature the item, along with impressions, view-through rate, comments, likes, etc.

‘Top Products’ is a new section in the Creative Center, along with top trends, songs, best-performing ads, etc.

12. Instagram Tests User Location Listings on Reels Clips

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-tests-user-location-listings-on-reels-clips/643194/

Instagram’s testing a new way to provide more transparency on Reels content, by listing the location of the profile that created the clip on the video itself.

Instagram has added a range of misinformation-combating elements in recent years, including false information labels, removal of questionable posts from discovery, and proactive detection via AI.

13. Snapchat Integrates ChatGPT Elements into New ‘My AI’ Tool In-App

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/snapchat-launches-its-own-chatbot-ai-to-rival-chatgpt/

Snapchat is the first social platform to jump aboard the generative AI bandwagon, with the launch of a new chatbot element for Snapchat+ subscribers called ‘My AI’, which will integrate ChatGPT into the platform, and provide AI-generated responses to queries.

Snap’s new, purple-skinned My AI character will be available for Snap+ subscribers to pose questions to, and will share answers customized for Snapchat.

14. Snapchat Announces Winners of its 2022 AR Lensathon, Which highlights Creative AR Use

https://ar.snap.com/blog/lensathon-winners-jan-2023

Snapchat has announced the winners of its 2022 Build the Future Lensathon, which called on AR creators to come up with innovative, creative, and engaging AR experiences in the app.

More than 3,000 developers took part in the competition and competed for $200,000 in total prizes. The selected winners demonstrate both innovative use of AR and creative thinking, with some interesting perspectives on future AR development on display.

15. Twitter Rolls Out New Alerts for Community Notes on Tweets You’ve Previously Engaged With

https://www.redmention.com/news/twitter-rolls-out-new-alerts-for-group-notes-on-tweets-youve-beforehand-engaged-with/

Twitter has rolled out another update for its Community Notes feature with a new alert when a tweet that you’ve previously engaged with gets a new note attached. The update could help to dispel misinformation and limit the flow of false reports, by alerting people to errors, enabling them to re-assess their initial response.

16. LinkedIn Adds Option to Tag Chats with a ‘Starred’ Function

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-adds-option-to-tag-chats-with-a-starred-function/643127/

LinkedIn has added another way to keep track of your messaging chats in the app, with the ability to ‘star’ chosen conversations.

You can now ‘star’ your chat interactions, in order to keep tabs on them within their own, dedicated ‘starred’ filter. LinkedIn has been working to improve its messaging tools, with new additions like ‘Focused Inbox’, which adds a ‘Featured’ and ‘Other’ folder to separate your chats.

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.