This week, Instagram has changed its logo (well, its text only one) and social can’t stop talking about it. X is giving a behind the scenes look into its ranking system and how it actually impacts your posts and YouTube is making major changes in how you can earn money on the platform.
Meanwhile, social is obsessed with making you guess things. Can you guess the album cover? Can you guess the film? Can you guess how much time I wasted playing along? Read on for more social media news.
Instagram gets a makeover
Image credit: Instagram
Big news. Instagram has released a new wordmark (aka a text-only logo spelling out the company). IG head Adam Mosseri announced the change, describing the new logo as “sharper and more modern” while still referencing the original and maintaining simplicity. Whether it’s joking that the logo now looks like it reads “Instagzam” or asking to steal the old logo, the change certainly has social talking.
Ever blamed low engagement on being shadowbanned? Well, X is here to prove you right (or wrong…) The platform is expanding its open source codebase which essentially will let users see if their account has been impacted by X’s ranking system. Users will be able to do this with a new transparency tool found in a new “Under the Hood” page in the app’s settings. X is testing this with a test group of accounts that are at least a year old, before rolling out more widely.
YouTube is changing how creators earn money from ads and subscriptions on the platform. Previously, creators needed just 4,000 watch hours over the past year to start earning money but the new change will require at least 8,000 watch hours. The change comes into effect in Feb, so make the most of those lower watch hours while you can. On the bright side, Youtube is expanding its Premium Lite subscription which gives creators a share of subscription revenue based on watch time and views.
Meta is expanding its Creator Studio app to any creators using iOS in the U.S. and Canada. The new app launched as a test in June with a small group of Facebook creators and provides AI powered advice to grow on the platform. The initial test has gone down a storm with one tester gaining 4,000 followers from a single video, and another increasing their earnings by 144% in the first 7 days of using the app.
YouTube is increasing access to its AI chatbot in the U.S. The feature launched earlier this year and lets users type conversational prompts and get answers based on contextual understanding. The expansion means U.S. users over 13 years old can access the AI tool across desktop, mobile and TV devices. YouTube is working on bringing the tool to more places and in add more languages.
