We Are Social’s Tuesday Tune Up

hannahcurrey

New parental controls come to Instagram
Are your offspring spending way too much time scrolling on the gram? Parents and guardians now can have more control over screen time, with the platform rolling out the ability to set time limits, after which a black screen appears on the app. Other parental controls that Meta has rolled out include a parent dashboard on all Quest virtual reality headsets worldwide. These controls include purchase approval, app blocking, and viewing a child’s friends list. Meanwhile, a ‘nudge’ feature is being trialled, with the aim of prompting teens to look for different subjects if they are repeatedly searching for the same thing. These new tools are bound to put parents’ minds at ease, but I’m sure won’t go down as well with control-adverse teenagers.

YouTube introduces ‘corrections’
We all make mistakes, and some are harder to correct than others. YouTube is making it easier to fix an error with a new feature named ‘corrections’. After uploading a video, creators can add corrections that will appear as info cards in the right-hand corner of a video. Viewers can then click on the card to see the correction notes in the video’s description. Previously you could edit and re-upload a video, which would result in a loss of comment and engagement metrics, meaning that this new feature will be inevitably welcome by YouTube aficionados.

Twitch is expanding its ad incentive programme
More cash is coming to creators on Twitch. The platform is expanding its ad incentive programme, which offers select streamers a guaranteed payment in exchange for running a fixed amount of ads during a certain number of hours. The programme is now opening up to include more partners, with ad payouts of 55 percent of the revenue for each ad that runs on a creator’s stream. According to Twitch, the 55 / 45 split of ad revenue will “ensure [Twitch] can pass price increases through to creators”.

Snap is working on a paid subscription feature
Fancy early access to the latest Snapchat features? This may soon be a possibility, as the platform is testing a paid subscription feature. Named Snapchat Plus, the subscription service will share exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features with subscribers. That means access to the latest filters, games and partnerships before anyone else. Currently in internal testing stages, Snap fans should watch this space.

Twitter launches Location Spotlight
Businesses are getting a boost on Twitter, thanks to a new feature called Location Spotlight for professional accounts. Businesses can now display details on their profiles such as their location, contact information and operational hours. Available to users in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, the feature is designed to make it easier for regular Twitter users to locate and interact with local businesses.

TikTok may let you see who viewed your videos
Want to know who is spying on your TikTok profile? Your wish may come true, as TikTok is testing the ability to allow users to see which of their followers have viewed their videos. However, this means that people you follow will be able to see that you viewed their posts too. Currently undergoing limited testing, you will be able to turn the feature off at any time from the Settings menu. Phew.

WhatsApp now lets you export content from Android to iPhone
It’s about damn time. WhatsApp is finally adding the ability for users to transfer their conversation chat history, videos, voice messages and photos from Android to iPhone. Previously, users only had the option to transfer chats from iPhone to Android. You’ll have to download the Move to iOS app to get your content from one phone to the other. Then simply follow the instructions and voila! Your precious videos, photos, chat history and more will be returned to their rightful owner. 

Ones to watch
Instagram is testing a full-screen mode for its feed.