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 take a look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.

1. Musk Tasks Twitter Staff with Creating a New, $19.99 Twitter Blue Offering Which Includes Verification

https://www.redmention.com/news/musk-duties-twitter-employees-with-making-a-new-19-99-twitter-blue-providing-which-consists-of-verification/

According to a new report from The Verge, Elon Musk’s first directive to the Twitter dev team has been to create a new tier for Twitter Blue which enables users to essentially buy a blue checkmark – for $19.99 per month.

Musk has also, reportedly, considered charging users that already have a blue tick a monthly fee to keep it. Which may also be at that $19.99 price point – which equates to $239.88 per annum just to be a Twitter celebrity, or at least, to have the presence of one, with your own blue tick.

2. Pinterest Reports Increasing Usage and Revenue in Latest Performance Update

https://investor.pinterestinc.com/press-releases/press-releases-details/2022/Pinterest-Announces-Third-Quarter-2022-Results/default.aspx

Pinterest has posted its latest performance update, showing increases in both users and revenue, neither in a major swing, in broader terms, but both, most importantly, pointing upwards once again.

Pinterest added 12 million more users in the quarter, taking it back up to 445 million monthly actives, which is exactly where it was at this time last year. Pinterest saw the most growth in the ‘Rest of World’ category, though it also added 3 million users in both the US and Europe as well. That’s still below the 98 million North American users it had last year, but any growth is a positive, after three periods of decline in its most lucrative market.

3. Snapchat’s ‘Director Mode’ Rolls Out to All Users, Providing New Creative Options in the App

https://mobilesyrup.com/2022/10/27/snapchat-rolls-out-new-director-mode-feature-worldwide/

Snapchat has announced that its new ‘Director Mode’ advanced video creation process is being made available to all iOS users of the app.

Snap’s Director Mode includes a range of more advanced editing tools within the app, including a green screen, variable playback speed options, improved editing tools, and dual camera controls, so that you can use the front and back-facing cameras at the same time to create 360-degree content.

4. Meta Reports Increasing Costs, Lower Ad Revenue in Q3 Performance Update

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/26/facebook-parent-meta-earnings-q3-2022.html

According to Meta’s Q3 results, Facebook is now up to 1.98 billion daily active users, an increase of 16 million from its last report. However, all of that growth is coming from the Asia-Pacific and ‘rest of the World’ markets, which are not as lucrative for the company as the US and Europe.

Meta brought in $27.71 billion for the quarter, which is still a massive result, but it represents a decrease of 4% year-over-year. That reduced revenue performance is partly due to the impacts of data privacy shifts, partly due to the broader economic downturn.

5. Google Expands ‘About This Result’ Panels to Europe, Launches New Digital Literacy Training Program

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/Google-Expands-About-This-Result-Panels-to-Europe-Digital-Literacy-Push/635062/

Google has announced some new web literacy elements for users in Europe, including an expansion of its ‘About this result’ info panels in Search, and a new digital education initiative, in partnership with European libraries.

Google’s rolling out its ’About this result’ feature in several new languages - Portuguese, French, Italian, Dutch, German, and Spanish. Google’s also working to improve digital literacy via a new initiative, in partnership with libraries in Europe, which will see librarians and library staff trained on best practices by information literacy experts.

6. LinkedIn Provides More Tools to Facilitate Internal Promotion and Movement

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/LinkedIn-Adds-Tools-to-Facilitate-Internal-Promotion-and-Movement/634851/

LinkedIn has announced a new set of updates for its recruitment tools, with a focus on improving internal mobility, while it’s also published a new Global Talent Trends report, which highlights some of the key recruitment challenges in the market today.

LinkedIn’s adding a new Spotlight element for internal candidates in Recruiter to help highlight potential opportunities. LinkedIn’s also looking to help employees find open roles within their organization that are aligned with their chosen skills path in the LinkedIn Learning Hub.

7. LinkedIn Adds New Security Features, Including New Info on When an Account Was Created

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252526589/LinkedIn-adds-new-features-to-safeguard-user-privacy-security

LinkedIn’s adding a new ‘About this profile’ element, which will provide more insight into when a profile was created, when it was last updated, and more.

The new ‘About this profile’ element, accessible via the three dots menu on any profile in the app, will include info on when the profile was updated, along with whether the user has a registered email or phone number in the app.

LinkedIn has also improved its machine learning and AI models to better detect uploaded profile images that have been created by an AI image app.

8. Snapchat Adds New Lenses and Bitmoji Options for Halloween

https://newsroom.snap.com/halloween2022

Snap’s added a range of new Halloween-themed lenses, including Rune Room, which stamps runes across your walls, and Spooky Pet, which can transform your pet into a ghost-like apparition. There’s a whole range of Halloween Lenses to explore, which will no doubt be popular during the event.

Snap’s also added five new Bitmoji costumes, including a cat burglar, a devil catsuit, a superhero, a cheerleader, and an 80s aerobics instructor. Bitmoji has become an even bigger focus, with Snap hoping to push the option as a digital identity tool, with a view to enabling people to integrate their Bitmoji characters into future experiences.

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.