Snapchat Influencers drive the most purchases
Snapchat remains a highly influential app, and plays a significant part in shopping discovery, according to a new report looking at social shopping behaviours.
In response to a question relating to whether users of each of the major social apps have made a purchase based on influencer content in that app, Snapchat came out on top, with 85.6% of users going on to buy after seeing a creator showcase a product in-stream.
A survey from eMarketers also found that creators were most effective at driving purchases among a Gen Z audience.
Read more here
YouTube Shares Insights Into the Potential of Gen AI for Creators
Like most social platforms, YouTube is diving headfirst into the world of AI, and looking to integrate more generative AI features to ensure that its creators can use them to best advantage.
According to a new report from YouTube, more and more creators are now incorporating AI into their process, with 92% of creators already using Gen AI tools.
This is the gap that YouTube is now trying to bridge, by providing more insight into how generative AI tools will be able to empower creators to maximise their output, and explore all-new opportunities through systematic improvement.
Read more here
X Looks To Remove Account Blocking Options in the App
X is now moving to dilute the ‘account blocking’ functionality in the app, by removing the block button from several places on the platform.
Users will still seemingly be able to block someone from their profile, but even if an account is blocked, the blocked user will still be able to see your public posts. This means that the only way to avoid having someone see your updates is to post privately, or to your followers only, which would keep it from their view.
X owner Elon Musk is convinced that blocking is a negative element, mostly because of block lists, which he believes restrict the reach of his posts, and other profiles, in the app.
Despite this, the update has caused some concerns as for victims and survivors of stalking and domestic abuse, removing the block button presents a much more significant danger.
Read more here
Threads is adding location sharing to posts
Threads seem to be rolling out a new location tagging feature that allows users to add a location to their posts. Some users have reported seeing the change in Threads’ app, though it doesn’t seem to be available to everyone just yet.
The feature is similar to location tagging on Instagram. When you give Threads access to your location, you’ll see a list of nearby places to tag, though you can also manually search for a place.
Mark Zuckerberg has said the company plans to continue growing the service before bringing ads to the platform, but getting users’ consent to sharing locations would provide a crucial bit of information for the company’s ad machine.
Read more here
Sharp rise in problematic teenage social media use
A major international study suggests there has been a sharp rise in what it calls “problematic” social media use among young people since the pandemic.
The Health Behaviour In School-aged Children (HBSC) study found, on average, 11% of respondents engaged with social media in a problematic way in 2022 – compared to 7% in 2018.
“Problematic use is most common amongst 13-year-olds – it sort of peaks in that early adolescence phase and girls are more likely to report problematic social media use than boys,” said the study’s international co-ordinator, Dr Jo Inchley, from the University of Glasgow.
Read more here.