Reddit goes to war against its power users

Hello, geeks

Before we get started… Some breaking news:

LinkedIn is killing its carousel posts feature 😯 (Plus TWO other creator features).

I’ve had another manically busy (but fun) week. I was invited to speak at Andrew and Pete’s Atomicon event in Newcastle with these great people. I had a blast. Although the 6.5 hr train journey sucked!

I finally met the super talented Sophie Millar (PLM). And I bumped into a long list of people I’ve followed on social for years, but never met IRL (Spot my selfie with the two Laura’s!)

…I also had a disturbing gift left on my pillow in my hotel room. 😆

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🚩 A quick bit of Geekout Newsletter housekeeping…

I’m going to take a few days off over the coming weeks. I need a digital detox! So… I’m headed to Glastonbury Festival. ⛺️🎶

Geekout Newsletter will be left in the capable (geeky) hands of Martin SFP Bryant (Geekout co-editor).

He will track everything new in social, and pull it all together for the next TWO editions of Geekout (23rd + 30th June).

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Ok, let’s get into it. These were the biggest stories in social media land this week:

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

1. Reddit Blackouts Begin as Mods Protest API Pricing Changes [DARK WEB]

2. YouTube Lowers Requirements For Creators to Make Money [PAYING UP]

3. Music Publishers Hit Twitter With $250M Copyright Lawsuit [LAWYER UP]

4. Meta Expands Bonus Program For Creators on Facebook [ZUCK BUCKS]

5. Twitter CEO Sets Out Her Vision For The Company In First All Staff Email [READ EMAIL]

Here’s everything else new and noteworthy this week. Some very interesting new features spotted… 😯👇

Meta / Facebook

Meta introduced new tools to help creators get discovered and earn money on Facebook … Meta Verified gained new early access to beta features perk … This is the new most annoying Facebook notification … Facebook wants you to create a second profile (desperate growth hacking) … Facebook added a ‘Creator support’ tab (minus any actual support) … Facebook is testing a ‘Highlight’ content feature to boost your top posts.

Instagram / WhatsApp

You can now add music to your Instagram Notes (MSN Messenger vibes… teens love IG Notes, apparently) … Instagram rolled out its broadcast Channels feature globally … And WhatsApp is working on multi-account support and a video messaging feature.

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Twitter

Twitter will soon start sharing revenue with creators for ads in tweet replies (don’t bank on it being much + it’s going to incentivise bad behaviour) … Twitter is reportedly moving fast to reboot Periscope (eyeroll) … Twitter plans to charge you to DM people who don’t follow you AND limit the number of DMs you can send per day … Twitter is working on a LinkedIn-style jobs feature … Twitter updated Twemoji with 31 new emojis … And there’s this random Twitter emoji confetti tweet.

TikTok / YouTube / LinkedIn

TikTok has a new dual camera mode for TikTok Live … TikTok tried to dispel myths over how it tracks users (but it failed) … TikTok on desktop now lets you add sounds to your videos … YouTube added a shortcut to edit longer videos into 15 or 60 sec Shorts … LinkedIn added Twitter-like notification filters.

Twitch / Tumblr

Twitch finally agreed to pay more to smaller streamers with a new Partner Plus monetisation tier… And Tumblr wants to become more like Twitter?! 😆 And this!

DID YOU SEE… 👀

• ⚡️ ALGORITHM: LinkedIn Algorithm Comment Boosts Revealed [REVEAL BOOSTS]

• 💼 CAREERS: How To Become a Social Media Consultant in 2023 [CAREER TIPS]

• ✨ BRANDING: How to Build a Personal Brand on Social Media [START BUILDING]

• 🔍 RECRUITS: How to Find the Best Social Media Managers in 2023 [HOT HIRING]

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Time to jump into analysis of this week’s top stories. Reddit’s CEO has had one helluva week! 👇🔥

– Matt

🚨 Everyone's talking about...

The Reddit API pricing drama has now stretched into its third week, and CEO Steve Huffman isn’t backing down. If anything, it feels more like he’s at war with a group of the site’s power users.

A disastrous AMA last Friday set the tone for the week. Before long, what was planned as a temporary protest that saw thousands of top subreddits switch to private mode, had turned into an indefinite blackout for some.

Despite Huffman’s insistence that it was nbd, the impact on Reddit’s traffic must have been noticeable. It certainly had an effect on Google search results and became a problem for advertisers. Indeed, some are holding their campaigns.

By the end of the week, many top subreddits were still dark. but Reddit said 80% of top forums were back online.

Still, Huffman seems insistent that it Reddit will win this dispute. The company is threatening to remove moderators from subreddits that don’t back down, and in an interview with the Verge, Huffman was talking tough, describing popular third-party Reddit app Apollo (set to shut down in two weeks as a result of the API pricing changes) as a competitor:

“Apollo… uses our logo, or something like it, takes our data — for free — and resells it to users making a 100 percent margin. And instead of using our app, they use that app. Is that not competitive?”

He might have a point from the perspective of Reddit’s bottom line, but Apollo is used by a big chunk of the site’s power users. Huffman is playing a dangerous game continuing to annoy this crowd. They could easily pick up their toys and go home. Or at least move to a platform like Discord.

Reddit requires its power users to maintain its place as a vital source of online information and debate. However this dispute ends, it will be a case study in social media platform community management.

Social media platforms’ attitude to paying creators ebbs and flows. One month they’re paying out millions in incentives, the next they’re reining it all in.

But there are signs platforms do want to build ways of paying creators (it’s a great way of hanging onto them), if only they can make them sustainable.

And so this week we’ve seen news from YouTube, Meta, and Twitter on this front.

Firstly, YouTube has opened its Partner Program to far more creators in the US, UK, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Whereas you previously needed at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days, the bar has now been substantially lowered.

Now you need just 500 subscribers, three public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Meanwhile, as part of a wider expansion of its creator tools, Facebook is lowering the Stars monetisation eligibility barrier. Creators must have 500 followers (down from 1,000) over the past 30 days (down from 60)–and testing monetising Reels that include music.

And of course Twitter has been busy promoting its Subscriptions product and now seems almost ready to start sharing revenue for ads shown in replies. You’ll need to be a verified subscriber and only impressions served to other verified users count.

I’m not sure this one sounds like much fun. Revenue paid out to users is likely to small, and it will encourage Blue users to post engagement bait targeting other Blue subscribers. Eww.

Still, try hard and they might make back their $8 per moth sub subscription fee.

While the exact risks and benefits of social media on young people still aren’t fully understood, that hasn’t stopped some US states from cracking down.

Up there with the most extreme is Texas, where from September 2024, anyone under 18 will need parental consent to use social media.

Those kids who are still allowed to use it might well have a different experience, as platforms will be banned from showing them content on topics like eating disorders, substance abuse, or “grooming”.

Meanwhile, as the Verge explained, Texas is far from alone:

Just this week, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece arguing that 16 should be the minimum age to use social media, so the drumbeat for a more substantial crackdown continues.

We can’t be exactly sure what health and social impact bans like this might have on teens, but they’re certainly going to impact a lot of brands’ marketing strategies, and they could be a serious problem for a whole host of creators.

One to watch.

😆 LOL tweets

I think this idea would be surprisingly popular!

Also:

• Instagram Close Friend Transparency

📈 Going viral

MrBeast might struggle with his philanthropy, but his content is still clocking up the wins…

🪧 Brand social

This post from Heineken was a very clever way of jumping on the Apple Vision Pro hype. 👏

👀 Must-read

“Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, has become a viral sensation for his absurd acts of altruism. Why do so many people think he’s evil?”":

😮 What did you say?!

I mean, no disagreement here, Jack. But it’s interesting to hear you say it after you backed him just recently…

Wait… what? 👇

❓ Question of the week

Inspired by an excellent piece by Rachel Karten, I took to LinkedIn to ask:

Tap through to get involved and read some really insightful replies.

😮 WTF?!

This is a great way to make sure people don’t turn up at your actual funeral.

I mean seriously, what is wrong with some influencers..?

🛠️ Free tools

Need a bigger image than your client can provide? Uncrop can “uncrop your photos to any image format”, using A.I. to add additional background. Really useful!

And don’t miss:

• The Ultimate A.I. Prompt Library for Social Media Managers

🪦 RIP

Features being sent to the graveyard:

Thankfully the carousels mentioned here are image carousels, not the popular PDF carousel format. Phew!

🤖 A.I.-mazing

All the ways A.I. is transforming social media:

“Meta's MusicGen can generate short new pieces of music based on text prompts, which can optionally be aligned to an existing melody.”

Also:

• Why YouTube could give Google an edge in A.I. [$$$]

• Meta releases 'human-like' A.I. image creation model

• Meta employees are getting access to a chatbot called Metamate that is trained on internal data

💡 New feature spotlight

TikTok continues to build out on its shopping ambitions with a (potentially) better way to find what you want:

🔍 New research

The Reuters Institute’s annual Digital News Report is essential reading as usual. Here are some key insights:

More insights:

• More young people are using TikTok to access news

• 6 charts that sum up the Reuters Institute Digital News 2023 report

• PLUS: 4 takeaways from Pew's research on the state of US podcasting

📊 Social stats

Yowza:

Also:

• Teens are posting Notes at 10 times the rate other users are, according to Instagram

• 85% of Gen Z says social media impacts purchase decisions

• Gen Z is nearly as comfortable buying stuff on TikTok as they are on or Instagram

📈 Charted

Also:

• ByteDance vs. WeChat vs. Alipay: A comparison of Asia's 'Everything' apps

• Snapchat says 150+ MILLION people have sent 10+ BILLION messages to its My AI chatbot

• Twitter rival app T2 now has 5,000 members

• Instagram influencers are advertising nicotine products to young people, a charity has warned. [The Guardian]

• Mark Zuckerberg hopes A.I. can boost Meta' employee morale. [Washington Post $$$]

• …and Meta wants companies to make money using its open-source A.I. tech. [The Information $$$]

• Meta is appealing a Kenyan court ruling declaring content moderators as its employees. [TechCrunch]

• Meta A.I. chief Yann LeCun says A.I. won’t take over the world. [BBC News]

• UK bank TSB has urged Meta to more to protect users from fraud on its platforms. [The Guardian]

• Meta has joined a group working on standards around working with A.I.-generated and assisted media. [Axios]

New features and tests:

Facebook:

• Facebook now lets you highlight your content once a day by adding @ to highlight. [@ahmedghanem]

• Facebook has added two big buttons between the Stories/Reels feeds and the main page feed. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook has removed the ‘Top commenter’ fan badge from the Fan Engagement section of the Professional dashboard. [@oncescuradu]

• Facebook Live has a new voice enhancement feature. [@jonah_manzano]

• Facebook has been spotted offering a new ‘Creator Education’ guide. [@jonah_manzano]

Instagram:

• Instagram is rolling out its broadcast Channels feature globally, with some new features. [TechCrunch]

• Instagram now lets you add songs to Notes. [@instagram]

• Instagram has released a new remix feature for Reels, called Sequence. [@oncescuradu]

• Instagram now lets you to share your broadcast channel updates to your story. [@ahemedghanem]

• Third-party publishing tools can now access Reels features like tagging and ‘original audio’ renaming. [Meta News for Developers]

• Instagram now lets you control GIF comments by adjusting settings. [@jonah_manzano]

Messenger:

• Messenger now lets you play voice notes at double speed. [@saaiko]

WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp is working on new features including video messages, HD image quality uploads, and screensharing. [Android Authority]

• WhatsApp is testing the ability to advertise status updates via Facebook and Instagram. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is tweaking the chat attachment feature interface. [WABetaInfo]

• WhatsApp is working on native multi-account support. [WABetaInfo]

The rest: Creator Studio/adtech/Quest and more:

• Meta is testing a chatbot called Metamate that is trained on internal data. [The Verge]

• Meta has released a 'human-like' AI image creation model that can analyse and complete unfinished images more accurately than existing models. [Reuters $$$]

• Meta Verified could soon offer the ability to access trial features. [@jonah_manzano]

• Meta's open source A.I. MusicGen can turn text and melody into new songs. [The Decoder]

• Meta has implemented new updates for EU advertisers. [Social Media Today]

• Horizon Worlds is getting a text-based 'world chat' feature. [Engadget]

• Leaked Quest 3 setup videos show ‘Smart Guardian’ room-scanning in action. [Road to VR]

• …and Twitter has tested a shutdown of its Google Cloud tech. [@ZoeSchiffer]

• Twitter being evicted from its Colorado offices for not paying rent, according to reports. [Insider]

• Twitter has suspended the accounts of a prominent Tesla and Elon Musk critic, Plainsite founder Aaron Greenspan. [CNBC]

• Music companies are suing Twitter, alleging it violates the copyright of songwriters by using their music on its platform without permission. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Twitter’s new CEO has emailed employees for the first time. [@TechEmails]

• Jack Dorsey says India threatened to shut Twitter and raid employees’ homes. India has denied the claim. [BBC News]

• Mark Zuckerberg praised Elon Musk's push 'to make Twitter a lot leaner', in a recent podcast interview. [Insider]

• …and Jack Dorsey says he has faith Elon Musk will fix Twitter’s problems. [@Kantrowitz]

• Twitter appears to have withdrawn from the Tech Coalition, an alliance of tech companies fighting child sexual exploitation online. [@ZoeSchiffer]

New features and tests:

• Twitter is working on letting Verified Organisation post job vacancies. [@nima_owji]

• Twitter group DMs can now include up to 100 users. [@TwitterSupport]

• Community Notes has rolled out to eight more countries in Europe. [@CommunityNotes]

• Twitter has added a Verified Organisations button to the sidebar menu. [@MattNavarra]

• Twitter might limit the number of DMs you can send per day unless you’re verified. [@alex193a]

• Twitter is rolling out support for 31 new twemojis. [Emojipedia]

• Twitter could soon let Subscriptions creators toggle tweet previews. [@nima_owji]

• US federal agencies have cut their spending on TikTok ads. [The Information $$$]

• TikTok wants to dispel concerns over how it tracks you, with a new ‘TikTok Truths’ series. But it's reassurances are not very... reassuring. [Social Media Today]

• TikTok will invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia to boost its e-commerce business. [Reuters $$$]

• TikTok is coming to screens at fuel retailers across North America. [@TikTokComms]

• TikTok has expanded its brand safety measurement partnership with Integral Ad Science. [Social Media Today]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

• TikTok has launched a new Agency Hub mini-site for agency partners and SMBs. [Social Media Today]

• TikTok wants submissions for its 2023 European Ad Awards. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

• TikTok has a new Dual Camera mode for live videos. [@MattNavarra]

• TikTok is testing visual search for its Shop feature. [AdWeek $$$]

• TikTok now lets users toggle comments for a post from the Privacy Settings section. [@oncescuradu]

• TikTok has been spotted offering a new UI for the sharing menu, an ‘add to story’ button, and more. [@oncescuradu]

• TikTok now lets you add sounds to your videos on desktop. [@jonah_manzano]

💥 More social media news and updates

• Spill is a new beta iOS app with a 'meme-forward' aesthetic from former Twitter employees. [TechCrunch]

• Twitter alternative Post has launched an iOS app. [TechCrunch]

• 67% of companies increased their influencer-marketing budgets from 2022 to 2023, according to a survey. [Insider $$$

• It seems live shopping could still take off in the West. [CNBC]

• Jack Dorsey-backed decentralised social messaging app Damus could be removed from the App Store by Apple over its approach to payments. [CNBC]

• Twitch and YouTube influencers are becoming video game publishers. [Bloomberg $$$]

• Social media moderators in Germany want improved working conditions. [Reuters $$$]

• Truth Social’s long-delayed stock market floatation via a SPAC might never happen. [Axios]

New features and tests:

• YouTube now allows users to edit their videos into a 15-seconds or 60-second Short. [@oncescuradu]

• YouTube is testing suggested search items related to a Short’s subject. [@oncescuradu]

• YouTube comments now show user handles. [@_Faslu_]

• LinkedIn has redesigned its post composer and audience/comment controls on iOS. [@MattNavarra]

• LinkedIn is rolling out Twitter-like filters for notifications and mentions. [@oncescuradu]

• LinkedIn is set to test the ability for marketers to target LinkedIn users when they’re watching movies and TV shows on streaming services. [The Information $$$]

• LinkedIn has added new Twitter-like notification filters to help prioritise engagement. [Social Media Today]

• LinkedIn is killing several creation tools on June 26th: photo carousels, profile videos, and link stickers for media. [@MattNavarra]

• Reddit has launched new ad products designed boost conversions. [Search Engine Land]

• Bluesky now lets you add more details when reporting a post. [@oncescuradu]

• Bluesky is now issuing special handles for government officials. [@oncescuradu]

• Twitch has launched shoppable streams. [TubeFilter]

• Twitch has announced a new Partner Plus tier for streamers to get a 70/30 revenue share split. [The Verge]

• Flipboard now offers a custom feed for Bluesky. [TechCrunch]

• Refinery29 has launched Twitch's first third-party live shopping experience. [Digiday $$$]

😳 And finally...

Just when you thought dating apps couldn’t get any worse…

📅 Back next week...

…You’ve reached the end of this week’s Geekout. ✅

I wish I had a joke, a fun fact, or a whimsical tale to reward you. Sorry! 😬

I’m heading off to binge watch the new season of Black Mirror. 📺

See you all in a few weeks time… If I make it out of Glastonbury alive! ⛺️😱

Goodbye, geeks.

– Matt

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_______

This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant