Facebook (probably) WON’T copy this

March 12, 2021

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Hello, geeks!

It’s been another crazy week in social media land. For starters, look who decided to start their own new social network. Facebook (probably) won’t copy this one. 😜

And it’s been a week of highs and lows for me personally. I had an email from Forbes.com telling me I was shortlisted for its ‘30 under 30’ list for 2021. Only one small issue: I’m depressingly a good few years older than 30. Dammit!

DID YOU SEE…

Earlier this week, I spotted a new ‘Captions’ sticker for Instagram Stories. Late last year, Instagram's Threads messaging app added a clever auto-caption feature for videos. This led to a big spike in downloads of the app by creators wanting to auto-caption videos for use on other platforms. Well, the folks at IG ported the feature into Stories.

HOWEVER. Instagram’s head of product revealed the feature was meant to be hidden and is not available yet. Sad times :( Fingers crossed it launches soon as I noticed it has a built-in bleep machine feature to censor your filthy mouth :)

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GREAT READ: Mark Zuckerberg talked about Facebook’s Minority Report-like plans for AR + VR in the next 10 years. Check out this post by Protocol’s David Pierce for a great summary of all the cool stuff Zuck revealed (5 min read) OR Listen to the full podcast interview (45 mins).

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NEW Geekout Audio Show (Coming Soon)

I’m working on a NEW Geekout audio show. It will be a bit like the Geekout podcast. But LIVE. And you can join us to chat, or just hang out + listen in. I will be joined by special guests from the world of social each week. So... Who should I invite to hang out with us as a special guest? Drop me a reply to this tweet with your suggestions.

BTW… Twitter is finally fixing auto-cropping of images in tweets AND the annoying Fleets reactions in DMs thing lots of people hated.

Here are a bunch of other things you might have missed this week...

ICYMI...

Right… You’ve had the fun stuff. Lets dig in to this week’s BIG talking points in social, and all the other new features and changes I spotted this week.

— Matt

P.S. 🏠 Join me on Clubhouse TODAY (FRI 12 MAR) at 11AM ET / 8AM PT / 4PM UK in our Geekout Weekly room. It’s a bit like a group therapy session for social media managers.

🚨 Everyone's talking about...

The Verge's Nilay Patel does his podcast interviews really well, always addressing important issues head-on with the people who have the power to solve them. So it's no surprise that his chat with Twitter's product chief Kayvon Beykpour had plenty of highlights. Among them, he discussed plans to allow for recording Spaces conversations, and he mentioned "a pretty big overhaul from the ground up of TweetDeck."

But most surprising was the revelation that Twitter doesn't want to make money from Super Follows. Beykpour told Patel:

For Super Follows, our goal is not for Twitter to make money. Our goal is for creators to make money. I think Twitter may incidentally participate in the transaction in some way to sort of cover our cost, but our goal isn’t to maximize revenue.

This work, just going back into the management organizational stuff, ladders up into our conversations work. And the goal of the conversations work is to incentivize conversations, to incentivize people to create conversations. So it’s just an important, subtle — but very meaningful for us — aspect of our positioning that we’d love to put as much money into the creator’s pocket as possible.

This is good news for creators, and maybe — in the face of Apple and Google already taking a 30% platform fee from many of these Super Follow transactions — Twitter felt it just wouldn't be appealing enough for creators if Twitter took another, say, 20% on top.

But Twitter's shareholders may have questions. After all, isn't moving to monetising through creators supposed to be a good way for the company to grow its business and reduce a reliance on advertising?

By the way, don't miss the other interview Beykpour gave this week, too.

Oh, Burger King... Tweeting that 'women belong in the kitchen' (on International Women's Day!) was supposed to be clever opener to a thread about encouraging more diversity in professional kitchens. It didn't go as planned.

That particular message seemed to work fine in print ads, where 'women belong in the kitchen' looked more like the kind of 'clever' headline you might see on a London Tube ad. But broken up into a Twitter thread, it just looked like the brand was using shock tactics in a crass and insensitive way.

It's reminder that social campaigns need special treatment when it comes to copy, as context is everything. Seeing text out of context in a feed has a very different effect on the audience than if they read it in a newspaper ad or on a billboard.

Burger King took a surprisingly long time (10 hours or so) to apologise, and another hour or so to finally delete the tweet. The brand claims it "will do better next time."

A 'teachable moment' as they say, and a case study that will no doubt be used in many a social media marketing training course for a long time to come.

Facebook's forthcoming AR glasses won't be a standalone device. The company has revealed it is working on "a soft wristband that will measure hand and finger gestures," as well as haptic gloves too, to help you interact with the glasses.

Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg gave an interview this week to the Information, in which he talked about the potential for smart glasses to 'teleport' users to other places for business and personal meetings (not literally, obviously).

Does this point to how the company might market its glasses in the future? Will they be presented as complementary to the Portal line, in helping you stay connected to others? That certainly feels more in line with the way Facebook likes to be seen than the 'creepy internet-connected spy glasses' its critics may see them as.

Don't expect the initial mixed-reality glasses or headsets on the way from Facebook and Apple to be anything as fancy as all this though. A lot of what 's being talked about now could take half a decade or more to come to maturity.

👀 ICYMI...

Stories you need to know about:

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp:

After the previous version of this low-spec app was withdrawn last spring, Instagram has relaunched Lite and made it available in far more countries than before. Impressively, it squeezes most of the main app's experience into just 2MB (around 15 times smaller)!

  • Facebook has asked a judge to dismiss major antitrust lawsuits filed against it in the US late last year. [BBC News]

  • Instagram recommended Covid misinformation, anti-vaccination content and anti-Semitic material to users during the peak of the pandemic, a new report claims. [The Guardian]

  • Facebook's AR and VR division now accounts for almost one fifth of the company's total headcount. [The Verge]

  • Facebook is to be the exclusive streaming partner for the Grammy Awards live preshow event. [Adweek $$$]

Twitter:

Russia is throttling Twitter's bandwidth in what is being read by many as the latest attempt by an authoritarian government to censor anti-regime speech.

  • Twitter Spaces should fully open to all next month. If Clubhouse doesn't get a move on, Twitter will have a serious edge here. [The Verge]

  • Jack Dorsey may raise $2.5m or more from a non-fungible token (NFT) of his first ever tweet. He says the money will be donated to charity. [The Verge]

TikTok:

TikTok wants you to be kinder, with the addition of two new features. Creators can now decide which comments will appear on their content, and TikTok will now ask people to reconsider posting a comment that may be inappropriate or unkind.

  • TikTok now has more than 3,000 staff in Europe, according to a new report that also says the company is looking at opening a third office in London. [Insider]

  • Walmart will host a new livestream shopping event on TikTok, after it ran a successful pilot in December. [TechCrunch]

  • Pakistan banned TikTok for "immoral and objectionable" content. [Financial Times $$$]

  • Shopify is reportedly collaborating with TikTok on an affiliate network, offering. [OMR]

  • TikTok has relaunched its Creative Learning Fund, now called the Instructive Accelerator Program, to encourage educational content. [Digiday $$$]

  • TikTok has partnered with shesaid.so to "​inspire, educate and empower emerging woman-identifying talent" via mentoring and panel events. [TikTok newsroom]

  • Charli D'Amelio has said she is no longer enthusiastic about publishing to TikTok after receiving negative feedback from the public. [BuzzFeed]

And the rest:

Deepfakes as good as these require *a lot* of work, so not everyone can make them. But that doesn't mean they're not dangerous.

  • India has threatened Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp employees with jail over their reluctance to take down content critical of the government. [Wall Street Journal $$$]

  • YouTubers outside the US are to be taxed on income generated from US viewers, in addition to any domestic taxes they incur. [9to5Google]

  • FBI agents are reportedly confused about what they can and can't do when it comes to monitoring Americans on social media. [NBC News]

  • The pandemic has been a boon for AR adoption by brands, Snap's CEO says. [Fast Company]

  • The inventor of diverse skin-toned emojis has sued Apple for allegedly copying her idea. [Washington Post $$$]

  • Reddit has signed a deal with Omnicom Media Group to give the company's clients access to enhanced ad creative opportunities on the platform. [Social Media Today]

  • Apple will change 'subscribe' to 'follow' in its Podcasts app from iOS 14.5 onwards, to avoid confusing people who think they have to pay to get podcasts delivered to their devices. [Podnews]

❓ Question of the week

What social media manager buzzwords really grind your gears?

Click through below and let me know!

Let's make this tweet "go viral" 😆 👇

🔨 Tool of the week

This is a really useful tool for automatically generating good-looking web pages for your Clubhouse rooms. The three layout options you get look fancier than similar tools out there at the moment.

🐣 Tweet of the week

🔍 Insights

Social media data, insights and reports to give you an edge at work:

  • TikTok has launched new tips and resource guides to help businesses make the most of its platform. [Social Media Today]

  • Facebook has lost its lead as the most-used social brand among 12-34-year-olds in the US. Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are ahead. [@edisonresearch]

  • How could connected TV help marketers? YouTube has some ideas. [Social Media Today]

__________

📰 Classified ads

Reach 10,000+ social media professionals to tell them about your big new thing!

Book a classified ad in next week’s newsletter.

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📲 Quick hits

Updates, experiments, and useful info snippets:

  • Facebook videos are now showing up in Google's 'short videos' search results. [Search Engine Roundtable]

  • Facebook is testing integrating Reels into the Facebook app in India. [Economic Times]

  • Facebook Marketplace has added a ‘Holiday mode’ feature. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is testing 'sticker ads' in Stories as a way for creators to make money. Also, ads are coming to shorter videos and Stories. [The Verge]

  • Facebook is now prompting users to add posts to the ‘Community Help’ feed to get more reach and responses on relevant posts. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is back in the Microsoft Store on Windows, as a progressive web app. [@ALumia_Italia]

  • Facebook Gaming now has a path to partnership for streamers who are in its Level Up creators program. [The Verge]

  • What a surprise! Or not. Instagram is working on audio Rooms. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is developing homescreen shortcuts to let you quickly switch accounts. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is still working on affiliate marketing features, with evidence emerging of an Affiliate Tools section for finding shops to tag. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is working on a 'People' tab in the Stories archive. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is building an option to switch on Reels notifications. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is working on 'Discover' and 'Following' tabs for Reels. [@alex193a]

  • Messenger has launched a sticker pack to mark Women's History Month. [Messenger News]

  • Messenger Kids also offers a Women's History Month sticker pack. [Adweek $$$]

  • WhatsApp appears to be working on password-protected encrypted chat backups. [The Verge]

  • WhatsApp is working on possible iOS support for playing Instagram Reels. You can already play Reels in WhatsApp on Android if someone shares a link with you. [@WABetaInfo]

  • 120Hz support on Oculus Quest 2 has been delayed. [TechRadar]

  • Twitter is testing support for 4K images. [@TwitterSupport]

  • Twitter is exploring the best way to handle blocked accounts in Spaces. [@jakhorner]

  • Twitter is already working on a tip jar for Spaces, with support for Bandcamp, Cash App, Patreon, PayPal, and Venmo. [@wongmjane]

  • Twitter is working on text transcription for voice DMs. [@alex193a]

  • Twitter's Birdhouse has seen decreasing usage since launch. [@Mantzarlis]

  • Twitter's Android app could soon get the same compose interface as the iOS app. [@wongmjane]

  • Twitter is working on transcriptions for fleets and audio tweets. [@alex193a]

  • Twitter advertisers can now restrict replies to promoted-only tweets and those that use popular ad formats. [Twitter blog]

  • Twitter Spaces links now appear as clickable cards in Twitter’s own mobile apps. [XDA Developers]

  • Twitter's mute function is buggy at the moment. [BuzzFeed News]

  • TikTok will soon offer shoppable videos via an 'e-commerce anchor' feature. [@herr_eisenbrand]

  • YouTube is testing a Chromecast app that resembles the Android TV app. [9to5Google]

  • YouTube appears to be working on the ability to loop the same video over and over, in its Android app. [9to5Google]

  • YouTube TV has released a fun little Easter egg if you watch The Walking Dead. [Android Police]

  • Snapchat has a new iOS 14 Resource Hub, to help advertisers make sense of the forthcoming user tracking changes. [Social Media News]

  • Snapchat now offers Bitmoji clothes featuring classic Nickelodeon shows including Garfield, Rugrats, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. [Adweek $$$]

  • Twitch appears to be planning a “brand safety score” for streamers on its platform. [The Verge]

  • Dispo has dropped its invite system, meaning you can just download and use the currently hot photo-sharing app. [ScreenRant]

  • Giphy has added a 'Hire Me' button to make it easier to work with artists on the platform. [Adweek $$$]

  • The first screenshots have emerged of Mark Cuban's Clubhouse-style app, Fireside. [The Verge]

  • LinkedIn is removing the Covid-19 response message on Pages from next week. [@Kirsten_AD]

  • Reddit is rolling out the ability to change online status between 'online' and 'hiding' in its Android app. [TestingCatalog]

  • Pinterest has shared details of its content moderation A.I. [VentureBeat]

  • Pinterest is taking further steps to limit Covid-19 vaccine misinformation spreading via its platform. [Adweek $$$]

  • The new Bebo now lets you reserve a username. It looks like it will focus on 'profile hopping' more than traditional feeds. [@MattNavarra]

📖 Weekend reading

"A rash of new start-ups are making it easier for digital creators to monetize every aspect of their life — down to what they eat, who they hang out with and who they respond to on TikTok."

💀 Meme of the week

Credit: @workinsocialtheysaid on Instagram

😳 And finally...

When a developer is locked down at home and bored AF...

📅 Back next week...

A bit like Jack Dorsey’s beard…

...This week’s Geekout was long and messy, but you can’t stop looking at it.

Congrats on making it to the end!

REMINDERS...

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Gotta head out. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Goodbye geeks!

— Matt

This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.

Copyright 2021: Matt Navarra Media Ltd

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