TikTok is protecting teens from targeted ads
TikTok has announced that the platform will implement restrictions to ads targeted at teens within the app.
Advertisers can now only use broad targeting metrics including location, language and device-related information. This ensures that younger generations using the platform are not exploited by advertisers with attempts to influence their thinking.
Meta implemented these restrictions several years ago to guarantee that teen users were not targeted while limiting the use of personal data gathered from young users.
As TikTok embraces these restrictions it could have a much more significant impact than other platforms as 25% of its audience is under 20 years old.
Read more here.
Threads celebrates its one-year anniversary!
To celebrate this milestone Threads announced that it has 17.5 million active monthly users. Whilst this is a growing figure, it only amounts to 35% of X’s audience.
After completing a survey, the platform was able to establish how people were using the app. 67% of Gen Z users are keeping up to date with entertainment-related news via Threads, including conversations about food, fashion and music.
This data highlights Meta’s shift away from its political and news-focused reputation towards a more light-hearted, gossip magazine-style news source.
Read more here.
Ofcom confirm impact of TikTok on election
According to an Ofcom survey, 10% of people aged 16+ receive their election news via TikTok. This is a significant increase from the last election which suggested only 1% of users consumed news via the same platform.
Traditional news outlets including BBC, ITV, The Guardian, The Telegraph and Greatest Hits Radio all harnessed the power of TikTok to widely spread their election news.
Although TikTok presents itself as an entertainment app, recent elections have encouraged users to utilise the platform for political conversation.
Read more here.
New app incoming…
To bring the “social” back into social media a new app called “noplace” has launched in the UK. Previously invite-only, it surged to the top of the App Store when it was released to the general public on 3rd July.
With the intention of appealing to a younger crowd, or anyone interested in connecting with friends, the brand new app is being considered a remodelled MySpace. Colourful customisable profiles allow users to share whatever they wish about their lives.
“noplace” has already gone viral due to this customisable profile feature which may be a foreign concept to most Gen Z users.
Read more here.
YouTube battles copyright
YouTube has announced a preview of a new feature that uses AI to allow creators to declare independence from copyright strikes.
YouTube has updated its previous “Erase Song” tool with a new AI algorithm that will scan a video for copyrighted music and give creators two options:
- “Erase Song” will use AI to attempt to intelligently mute just the offending music while leaving the rest of your audio intact.
- “Mute all sound” will work as a fallback to mute a video for the duration of a copyright protected song.
Whilst YouTube is promising better performance the success of the tool is not guaranteed for all content.
Read more here.
Elon Musk is set to make big changes
X is set to remove interaction and engagement features from posts.
The like, repost, and reply buttons will no longer appear on a user’s timeline.
A swipe left and right feature is being introduced to like or reply, mimicking the format made popular by dating apps like Tinder.
The only viewable metric on the post timeline will be view count which will be moved to the upper right corner. The update has only received negative reactions to date.
Read more here.