Elon Musk Buys Twitter Social Media Round Up
A new era of the Twittersphere is upon us after Elon Musk successfully took over the platform last week, costing him $44bn. It wasn’t completely clear on what we could expect from Musk, but he’s already stirring up controversy among users with some questionable statements and policies.
Promoting ‘freedom of speech’ is one of Elon Musk’s latest missions, which has left some questioning if we will see the return of some controversial public figures to the platform, including famous exileDonald Trump. How does Musk view the fine line between freedom of speech and potentially dangerous or harmful language and hate speech and will the community guidelines, which protects Twitter’s users, be completely reconstructed?
In another seemingly controversial decision, Musk has also announced the introduction of an $8/month ‘Twitter Blue’ package. This means that not only will current verified accounts be expected to pay this new subscription fee, but now anybody who is happy to pay the $8/month will be able to get verification and ‘blue tick’ status.
It’s certainly an interesting way to supposedly create equilibrium among every day users and the “elite”. However, charging a monthly fee to break this ‘divide’ is questionable, as it does mean that only those who can afford it or are willing to pay it will have benefits to the platform.
These benefits will apparently include:
- Priority in replies, mentions & search
- Ability to post long video/audio
- Half as many ads as standard users
- Paywall bypass for publishers
- Secondary tags below names of public figures, like there is already for politicians
Musk also clarified that the Twitter Blue subscription fee will also feed into revenue stream for rewarding content creators. This is a pattern we are seeing most social platforms follow as more and more creatives are able to reap rewards for their skills, expertise and engaging content that
In Other News
Twitter is also looking to champion NFT creators by integrating links to the marketplace onto the platform, with the aim of encouraging more engagement. With this feature, creators can share the links to the NFTs, which will then appear as ‘NFT Tweet Tiles’, accompanied by a link preview displaying the artwork and details of the creators.
Introducing Professional Profiles
More online support for creators is available as Meta steps up its offering on Facebook with ‘Professional Mode’.
After successfully testing the concept in December 2021, these profiles will now be available globally, meaning more creators can build more of an online presence through the platform. While some might want to keep their personal life separate from the creative personality, this option will allow already existing profiles with a following to convert into a professional profile, so there is no need to create a new page and content can be streamlined.
Professional Mode comes with a host of benefits. As well as making it easier to increase following, these profiles will have access to some useful features we’ve previously associated with pages. This includes:
- Insights and analytics
- Direct access to Reels Play Bonus Scheme and Stars
- Content scheduling
- Data on things like best times to post
- Metas ‘Creator Support Hub’
This new update will bring a lot of opportunity for monetisation, not limited to the access to the Reels Play Bonus Scheme.
Adverts on Demand
Professional profiles that are eligible will also be able to have access to in-stream adverts. Facebook is looking to offer adverts before, during and after long-form video on the platform that these platforms can take advantage of.
With Facebook taking the step of turning live business pages into ‘profiles’ that you can swap between, it is no surprise that personal (but professional) profiles can have access to the same tools and insights.
The Influencer’s Platform
Creators and influencers are being spoiled with opportunities to grow their personal brand and Instagram have now officially announced the introduction of the Creator Portfolio. These are essentially media kits for creatives and influencers that can be directly accessed within the app.
These professional profiles will be able to access data from previous campaigns and other insights that potential collaborators would need to know with the professional dashboard.
Great news for other Social Media Managers and creators with busy schedules also comes this week as Instagram announces a trial of native scheduling within the app. Which is great if you like to take advantage of filters and other options you can have through direct posting but can’t quite get when scheduling through the likes of Hootsuite, like locations and tagging. Or if a scheduling platform simply isn’t in your budget, native scheduling means no extra costs for your marketing efforts!
During the testing phase, the option is only available for a very select group of professional users and we have very little information as to what we can expect. So far, all we know is that the scheduling will be available for regular posting and Instagram Reels but we’re yet to find out about Instagram Stories.
TikTok
A Lesson in Marketing
To make TikTok more accessible to all kinds of marketers and creatives, TikTok is now taking active steps to educate users on the platform and show them how to get the most out of it’s accessible features.
TikTok have recently launched the ‘TikTok Academy’ which provides free video courses on how to take advantage of TikTok for marketing. The free courses will include research data surrounding the platform, how to’s, optimisation tips and information about in-app trends and user behaviour.
There are already two courses readily available for viewing which include ‘TikTok 101’ and ‘Small Business’ with a course on commerce coming very soon! This is perfect tool for an Influencer Marketing agency help its talent to develop and educate to generate more views and bigger growth.
YouTube
A New Look
The developers at YouTube have been busy recently as the video platform has announced some big design and UI updates to make the app more user friendly.
Though more of a new feature than an update, the announcement of YouTube’s new ‘pinch to zoom’ is quite a revolutionary feature for the everyday video consumer. Soon we can all become football pundits and rewatch the highlights to zoom and see if it really was handball or offside! It’s introduced as a new way to engage with the playback video content.
Ever found yourself trying desperately hard to rewind back through a long video to find that one precise bit of information with no great ease? A precise seeking update should solve this! Users can drag or swipe up when watching videos in order to display the thumbnails of video frames so you can save time finding exactly what you need.
There are also a few simple yet interesting design changes including ‘Ambient Mode’ which adapts to the colour of the screen and the video playing in the background. There is also a ‘darker’ dark mode which enables colours to really stand out. And links in descriptions (including like, share, download & subscribe) will now also be able to appear as buttons to minimise distraction in playback and champion the content.
New Music Partnerships
Another week, another great partnership opportunity for Pinterest! This time in the shape of a giant pyramid! Or the Louvre museum to you and me. The gallery can be viewed through video technology from within the Pinterest app, offering a new viewing experience for art fans and a new interactive feature for the app.
This comes as Pinterest increases its effort to become a hub for prime entertainment. It’s also branching out to improve access to shopping and live-stream content.
Snapchat
Snapchat Goes Premium
Users can now get premium access to Snapchat with a Snapchat+ subscription from $3.99/month and over a million have already got on board!
For the subscription fee, users can get a hold of some exclusive features, including:
- Variable story expiration times, ranging from one hour to one week
- Custom notification sounds for different users
- Exclusive Bitmoji options
- Variable app icons and badges
- Additional data insights
Lights, Camera, Action
Make more out of video with the new Snapchat ‘Director Mode’, now available to all users within the Snapchat app! Get creative with the new editing tools like green screen, variable playback, speeds, dual camera control, 360 content to elevate marketing material and creative content to a whole new level.
While some of the features aren’t new and exclusive to Snapchat, it’s interesting to see how the app is keeping up to date with tools we’re seeing at the top of the game and keeping up with competition.
Conculsion
We are really excited to see what changes Elon musk will bring to Twitter and what steps it will take for free speech. Will people that have been previously been banned like Donald Trump. Stay up to date with all the news and follow our marketing blog to get ideas and tips on how to grow and market your business.