Tuesday Tune-Up #492

News
Nick Carolan

Our Q2 Global Digital Statshot Report is now live
Though social media use continues to grow worldwide, key policy changes may impact marketers’ ability to take full advantage of rapid increases in digital adoption. That’s a key finding of our Digital 2021 July Global Statshot Report – published in partnership with Hootsuite – which shows that social media continues to drive connected activity around the world, with global social media user numbers fast approaching another impressive milestone.

This quarter’s data also reveals some potential challenges ahead for marketers though, with the impact of changes in Apple’s privacy policies and the rollout of the EU’s ePrivacy Directive starting to appear in some of our numbers. Head here for a breakdown of the full report.

Twitter ad revenue crosses $1bn
Twitter has had quite the quarter, reporting a 74% increase in revenue, with ad sales reaching a pretty impressive US$1.05 billion. User numbers have also received a boost, increasing by 11%, adding seven million new users to the Twittersphere. The last quarter has seen several new developments from the platform, including its subscription service, Twitter Blue, its Spaces audio chat feature, and a Tip Jar tool. Despite shutting down Fleets, things are looking pretty good for the channel.

Clubhouse is now open to everyone
It’s time to join the club! Social audio platform Clubhouse is finally out of beta, ending its invite-only system that has been running over the past few months. Now anyone can join in on the fun, taking part in a creator’s community or any public event. The app has also introduced an altered version of its original logo, marking the start of the platform’s journey into the big wide world. With Clubhouse being one of the most discussed and anticipated apps of the year, it’ll be interesting to see whether opening up the platform will lead to a surge in downloads.

You can now translate Stories on Instagram
Instagram has introduced automated translation on Stories. When the feature detects a foreign language in a post, it will display a “See Translation” option on the top left of the screen, which users can select to see a translation. From Greek to German, the service currently supports over 90 languages and will be available globally.

WhatsApp will let you join group calls after they’ve started
Running late to a WhatsApp group call? You can now take your time as WhatsApp will let you join a call after it starts. Group calls will still be end-to-end encrypted but you can join in on the action in your own time. With video calls gaining new prominence over the last 18 months, this is a savvy move from the messaging platform, giving other services a run for their money.

Facebook gets in on the Games
Facebook has rolled out new features for the Tokyo Olympics, including a dedicated Games hub, AR effects for Instagram Reels and Stories, and a WhatsApp chatbot that can share schedule, broadcasting and medal news. In select countries, fans will have access to highlights from Tokyo 2020, athlete profiles and interviews via official Olympic broadcasters’ Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts.

Facebook Messenger is stepping up its emoji game
If you’re on social media, chances are that you’ve used an emoji as a way to express yourself. In fact, 2.4 billion messages are sent using emojis every day on the platform. Now Facebook Messenger is making it easier than ever to find the exact emoji you’re looking for when reacting to a friend’s message with an emoji search bar, allowing you to search for specific reactions. And as Facebook ventures further into the world of audio, emojis with sounds are being introduced. Named Soundmojis, sounds users can add as an emoji include ‘Brooklyn 99’ quotes and lines from ‘Bridgerton.’

Spotify links up with GIPHY
Spotify has announced a new partnership with GIPHY to enable discovery of new music through GIFs. The GIFs themselves won’t play song clips, instead, a series of new Spotify-linked GIFs will include an option to click through to Spotify directly to hear the artist’s music. Spotify has also introduced a personalised feed that updates in real-time based on what you listen to called the “What’s New” feed. The feature takes cues from social networks like Facebook, which deliver a constant stream of notifications under a “bell” icon to deliver an ongoing series of updates to mobile app users focused on new releases.

Snapchat now has 293 million daily users
There are plenty of new Snapchatters in town, with the platform’s Q2 report outlining a 23% year-on-year increase in users. The app is adding around 13 million new users per day, with its revenue soaring 116% to $982 million. This makes it a faster-growing business than Twitter or Facebook. These figures represent a fantastic second quarter for the app, with this growth in numbers likely to continue into the next financial quarter. 

Snapchat introduces 3D Bitmoji for profiles
Bitmoji avatars are big business, with more than 200 million people using the feature daily. Now Snapchatters can pose their Bitmoji avatar on their profile in 3D, with the ability to pick from more than 1,200 combinations of body poses, facial expressions, gestures and backgrounds. So whether you’re happy and want the world to know it, or stressed and want to express yourself, there’s bound to be a Bitmoji pose for whatever you’re feeling.

Ones to watch
Instagram is testing a new anti-harassment tool, Twitter is testing new features for its TweetDeck. Tumblr has debuted a subscription service for Gen Z creators and YouTube begins testing shopping from live streams.

The Tuesday Tune-Up features additional reporting by Hannah Currey.