This week in social, Imgur launched an app that allows gamers to build up their audience, Instagram enforced a 13-and-over rule for new users, Reddit reported strong year in review performance and TikTok surpassed 1.5 billion downloads.
Imgur Launches Gaming Content App Rivaling Twitch Clips
According to The Verge, Imgur’s new app Melee lets players flaunt their best gaming moments as well as share favorite clips with other users.
Why it matters: Imgur said that Melee was formed to give players a chance to build up their audience, something that is much more difficult to accomplish on Twitch without an already-established presence.
The details: Melee contains sections dedicated to different games and uses. For example, there’s a Fortnite group, a FIFA group and sections where YouTuber influencers and Twitch streamers can share their clips. Imgur users also have the ability to like, comment and share clips within Melee.
Instagram Now Requires Date Of Birth When Creating An Account
In a company post, Instagram said it wants to enable more age-appropriate experiences overall by asking for users’ date of birth.
Why it matters: According to TechCrunch, Instagram has played dumb about users’ ages to avoid a $40,000 fine per violation of the Child Online Privacy Protection Act. Despite Instagram’s new age checkup, it still won’t be asking existing users for their age.
The details: Before today’s update, anyone could create an Instagram account regardless of their age. Now, Instagram says users must be at least 13 years old to have an account in most countries. Birthdays will remain private information, viewable only within your own account. Instagram says it has plans to use the birthday information to create tailored experiences such as education around account controls and recommended privacy settings for young users. The post also detailed Instagram’s latest efforts to strengthen messaging privacy—users can control who can send them direct messages and who adds them to group threads.
Reddit Sees 30 Percent YoY Increase In Monthly Active Users
The company released its key performance stats as part of its year in review.
Why it matters: Back in September, Reddit announced new video ad options and a new mobile landing page. Though the platform has work to do in terms of improving revenue potential, brands shouldn’t overlook marketing opportunities on Reddit.
The details: In April 2018, Reddit had 330 million monthly active users (MAU). That figure skyrocketed to 430 million MAU, which means Reddit has more users than Twitter (330 million as of April 2019) and Pinterest (322 million). Reddit also saw growth in its engagement, as monthly comments grew 37 percent YoY and monthly view count jumped 53 percent YoY. Increases in subscribers in the top 50 beauty, style and food communities indicates that Reddit’s community is diversifying.
TikTok Exceeds 1.5 Billion Downloads
According to data from Sensor Tower, as of November 2019, TikTok has surpassed 1.5 billion downloads across the App Store and Google Play.
Why it matters: Though TikTok has grown exponentially, the platform is still uncharted territory for most brands.
The details: In addition to becoming the third most-downloaded non-gaming app globally, TikTok has passed $175 million in user spend over its lifetime, with 48 percent of all revenue made in China.
Facebook Provides More Transparency On Limiting Discriminatory Audience Targeting
Facebook has added two new measures to help prevent discrimination in ads for housing, employment or credit opportunities.
Why it matters: The new measures are a result of a lawsuit the National Fair Housing Alliance, American Civil Liberties Union and the Communication Workers of America filed against Facebook saying that the platform needs to build stronger protections against abuse. Still, Facebook’s algorithm-based system means that audience bias can still exist.
The details: Facebook has added the new ad restrictions to Ads Manager, Instagram Promote and Facebook Marketing API. Though the restrictions were employed in August, they were only fully enforced when the ads were purchased via Ads Manager, until now. The measures apply to advertisers based in the US, or those trying to reach US audiences.
TikTok Updates Age Restriction Policy On Virtual Gifting
The platform updated its policy to allow only those ages 18 and over to purchase, send or receive virtual gifts during live streams.
Why it matters: TikTok’s effort to prevent misuse of virtual gifts comes after a BBC probe revealed how children and teenagers were being pressured to buy virtual gifts for TikTok influencers.
The details: Users can send virtual gifts to TikTok creators during a live steam. Before today, anyone older than 13 was allowed to send virtual gifts on TikTok, and anyone over 16 could receive them. Now TikTok has bumped up the age to 18 and over for anyone looking to purchase, send or receive a virtual gift.
WeChat’s Brand Value Grew 1,540 Percent, Ranking Finds
According to Mobile Marketer, the value of the Tencent-run messaging service grew to $50.7 billion over the past five years.
Why it matters: WeChat’s success reflects the messaging app’s dominance in China, where it provides its massive audience of smartphone users with a lifestyle hub. The all-encompassing app lets other companies develop micro-programs that work inside the main app, which allows expanded features such as multimedia messaging, making payments, gaming, ride-hailing and travel booking.
The details: WeChat’s massive increase in brand value makes it the fastest growth among 100 global brands. In terms of dollars, Amazon saw the greatest brand value growth, which reached 187.9 billion. Together, China and the US had 39 of the world’s fastest-growing brands.
Twitter Uses Twttr Prototype App To Test New Conversation Features
According to TechCrunch, the features tested on twttr have now been spotted on Twitter.
Why it matters: With Twitter’s potential use of threaded conversation replies, it seems the platform is following in Reddit’s footsteps. Twttr also labels the person who started the conversation with a little microphone icon, similar to Reddit.
The details: Twitter launched twttr to experiment with changes to the Twitter user interface and gain feedback before officially rolling out changes to Twitter’s main user base. Now some of those features will be making their way to the Twitter app next year, including a Reddit-like conversation tree which helps keep track of a conversation’s flow.
Twitter Pauses Purge Until It Can Memorialize Accounts Of The Deceased
Before proceeding with its plan to delete dormant accounts, Twitter is developing a way to memorialize the accounts of deceased users.
Why it matters: The announced purge would’ve initially only impacted accounts in the EU due to local privacy regulations, Twitter said. The platform didn’t specify when it would have a plan to memorialized accounts of the deceased, but until then, it can look to Facebook, who already has a feature for memorializing accounts.
The details: Twitter received messages from many users regarding its plan to purge and the company reacted swiftly, ultimately making the decision to wait. However, the platform says its current inactive account policy has always been in place, but that it hasn’t been diligent about enforcing it.
Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, December 6. Have a news tip? We’re looking for changes to and news surrounding social media platforms as they relate to marketing. Let us know at editorial@alistdaily.com.
