After yet another crazy week in the world of Twitter, Elon continues to hit us with new developments – sometimes surprising, sometimes confusing, sometimes inconsistent – here’s what’s new. Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists – a move that seems to have been pre-planned by Elon in the lead up to buying Twitter. Substack has announced a loss in revenue since Twitter stopped links to the site, restricting users from liking and retweeting any Substack-related tweets. Twitter Blue subscribers will now see 50% fewer ads and therefore more organic posts in their ‘Following’ and ‘For You’ timelines (although apparently this doesn’t apply to ads shown on the profile or in replies, promoted accounts and trends, and promoted events on the Explore page). And as expected, the confusion with Twitter Blue continues – the company has not removed all legacy check marks as mentioned, so there is no differentiation between those who have paid for a subscription and those who had previously earned one. Accounts with a tick will now read ‘This account is verified because it’s subscribed to twitter blue or is a legacy verified account’.
Meta plans new generative AI ad creation options
Meta has revealed that it’s looking to release new generative AI ad creation options in the second half of this year, which will provide additional ways for advertisers to customise their promotions for different audiences across its apps. The company has created a new team for the upcoming plans.
Snapchat adds new safeguards around its AI chatbot
Snapchat is launching new tools, including an age filter and insights for parents, to improve its AI chatbot. The new age filter tells the chatbot its users’ birth dates and ensures it responds according to their age. In its Family Center, the company plans to provide more insights to parents and guardians about children’s interactions with the chatbot, including how their kids are communicating with the chatbot and the frequency of those interactions. To use this feature, an opt-in is required to use these parental control features.
YouTube’s new metric shows an artist’s reach across all formats, including Shorts
YouTube has announced that it is expanding its Analytics for Artists tool by adding YouTube Shorts-related data to the “Total Reach” metric, which gives artists and their teams an overview of how their music is reaching audiences across YouTube. This will include a new “Songs” section, which will allow artists to see their top songs from the past 28 days and what songs are being most used in Shorts.
In other news: You can now access Snapchat Lenses during Microsoft Teams meetings, making meetings more fun 🏖️ Instagram has added a new option called “Suggested content” to settings 👀 Instagram now allows users to respond with a photo in the “Ask me anything” sticker and sessions 📷 Instagram is also working on its text-based social network, Barcelona/P92 👀 And finally – TikTok has removed the 10 minute video duration option ⏱️
