Social Media updates and what they mean for you – April 6th

Put the kettle on, grab some snacks, and get settled because there’s a lot to get through in this bumper edition. It’s time for this week’s social media updates you need to know.

TikTok
Starting with a positive – they’re leading the app downloads chart in Q1, pipping Instagram to the post. Interestingly they’re also top of the consumer spend chart. Ok, it’s all downhill from here…

Another week, another TikTok ban on government devices, this time in Australia. Will an all-out ban follow? We’re unconvinced.

They cannot catch a break. Earlier this week, TikTok was fined £12.7 million in the UK for allowing underage users to access the platform. Naughty naughty. The ICO estimates that 1.4 million UK children under 13 were able to create accounts and use the app in 2020.

Is an outright US ban looming? Maybe. TikTok certainly seems to be concerned, taking to the app to highlight the benefits to businesses.

What does this mean for me?
TikTok doesn’t consider itself a social network, instead calling it an “entertainment app” giving you a HEAVY clue as to what kind of content to be putting on there. If it’s not entertaining in some way, it’s unlikely to perform very well. If entertainment fits with your business, we suggest adding TikTok to your strategy.

Unless you’re specifically targeting government officials, the bans on government devices rolling out across the world are unlikely to have any real impact on your business.

Got kids? Check if they’re using TikTok and if they are, familiarise yourself with the parental controls. Ideally, they shouldn’t be using the app until they’re over 13, but we’re realists and know this isn’t always the case. No judgment, just make sure they’re being safe.

Look, there’s a lot to unpack here around how social platforms use personal data. TikTok might be being somewhat scape-goated but that doesn’t mean they’re any less concerned. If you target or work with US businesses, it’s worth reading this.

Facebook/Meta
Meta’s revamped its safety centre, making it easier to find relevant information to address key issues and concerns. Big yes.

Say hello to the Segment Anything Model (SAM), Meta’s most recent contribution to the world of AR.

Generative AI (think ChatGPT) is coming to Meta. It’ll go hand-in-hand with their Advantage+ ads suite, helping you optimise ad campaigns even further.

Meta’s in-app code generator is retiring.

Advertise in Europe? Meta could soon ban certain ads to comply with data usage laws.

Reels ads. Nuff said.

What does this mean for me?
If you haven’t already, familiarise yourself with the safety centre.

We’re going to level with you here. The press release includes a lot of techie words we don’t entirely understand. But from what we understand, SAM will help researchers and developers make AR work better.

Meta’s generative AI is aimed specifically at ad creation, providing additional ways to customise promotions for different audiences across Meta apps. Which actually does sound pretty handy. Advantage+ shopping campaigns see a 32% increase in return on ad spend, which is not to be sniffed at.

If you haven’t already, switch to another form of two-factor authentication ASAP.

European users could soon be able to opt out of personalised ads, restricting ad targeting exposure to broad categories only. This would make it harder to target specific groups of people.

Short-form video is here to stay and utilising them for your ads could be an excellent way to increase engagement, such as through click-to-message buttons.

Twitter
You thought you’d gotten away with not having to deal with a bunch of Twitter f*ckery, didn’t you? No such luck. If you woke up on April 1st to your blue tick having done a disappearing act, you’re not alone. And if it hasn’t yet disappeared, rest assured that it will at some point over the next few weeks. That’s right folks, blue ticks are now ONLY for those willing to pay. *sigh*

Verification for Organisations is rolling out to more countries including the UK, despite the astronomical price.

If you’ve logged onto Twitter over the last few days you will have seen the logo has been changed to a Doge logo. Why? No one knows. We can only speculate that it’s Musk playing some form of ‘hilarious’ joke on us all.

From April 15th only Twitter Blue subscribers’ Tweets will show up in the ‘For You’ feed of users not already following them.

Twitter has a ‘VIP list’ of celebrities whose Tweets are being given a boost to ensure high engagement. There are no words.

Twitter’s working on a new element of its Community Notes feature, allowing users to add a note to images attached to Tweets, highlighting them as AI-generated or otherwise.

And finally, Twitter has published its Tweet-ranking algorithm on GitHub, including info on weighting.

What does this mean for me?
If you want that blue tick, you’ve got to cough up. Twitter Blue features now include seeing fewer ads in your feed (seems like a weird flex), writing longer Tweets, choosing colourful themes for your app (but no change to your actual profile), and many other dubious ‘benefits’. Needless to say, we remain unconvinced.

“Is Verification for Organisations worth it?” We hear you ask. In a word – No. If you want to read the ‘benefits’, you can do so here.

Honestly, Musk just needs to go away now. We have nothing else to say on the Doge debacle.

If Twitter is key to your 2023 strategy, you might want to seriously consider subscribing to Twitter Blue. Not because it’s worth it (it isn’t) but because your reach will be negatively impacted if you don’t.

The list of ‘VIPs’ share views that align with Musk’s own personal views, which effectively means anyone using the platform is being exposed to a VERY BIASED subsection.

AI-generated images are becoming increasingly realistic, making it harder to distinguish what’s real and what’s not. This latest development could be a good way to help bring some common-sense to the platform.

Knowing exactly how the algorithm works is every Social Media Manager’s holy grail. Likes and retweets provide the biggest boost to Tweets, so focus on driving this kind of engagement.

That’s it for this week folks! Remember to sign up for weekly updates direct to your inbox every Thursday and follow us on LinkedIn for more tips. See you next week!