ICYMI: Reels Aren't Driving Sales. Ruh-Roh
Here's what happened on social media this week, April 15
Welcome! This a recap of news and trends for and about creators or anyone who needs to stay up-to-date about what’s happening online. If someone shared this link with you, I hope you consider subscribing!
💻 ROADMAP
👎🏻 TikTok Dislike Button: TikTok announced they’re testing a dislike button for irrelevant or inappropriate comments. This was included as part of a post about community guidelines and safety, so “to avoid creating ill-feeling between community members or demoralize creators, only the person who registered a dislike on a comment will be able to see that they have done so.”
😎 TikTok Creator Filters: TikTok just rolled out Effect House that will allow creators and brands to build AR effects for the app. To encourage the creation of more custom filters, they’ve also included tutorials, how tos and step-by-step guides to creating AR and VR filters.
🔤 Improved Accessibility: YouTube and TikTok are adding new options for automated captions.
YouTube announced that creators will be able to add a permissions role for a ‘Subtitles editor’ in the YouTube Studio app. That grants third-party access to manage subtitles on your clips versus relying on the, sometimes inaccurate, automated caption service YouTube offers.
TikTok has announced that English auto-generated captions will be on by default for all uploads. But creators can still include their own captions, turn off auto-generated captions or change the language display options.
✂ YouTube Video Remixes: YouTube announced Shorts creators could sample one- to five-second video clips from long-form YouTube uploads. If a creator’s long-form video is sampled, the clip will be attributed back with a popup in the Shorts video that says “Cut from [channel name],” with a link to the video but long-form creators will not receive compensation for the use of their video. Alternately creators can opt out of having their long-form content sampled.
＠ Instagram Story Mentions: Instagram is testing a feature that will allow you to add mentions after your Stories are published, which could be great for getting added reach.
💰 Mo Metaverse, Mo Problems: Meta announced new ways for creators to earn money in Horizon Worlds (a free virtual reality, online video game developed for Oculus headsets):
Selling digital goods and services
Earning bonuses for building worlds that attract the most time spent
But critics are pointing out that Meta plans to take a seemingly excessive 47.5% fee on each transaction. “That's more than Apple's oft-criticized 30% App Store fee, and much larger than what NFT traders are accustomed to.” And, yes, Apple noticed.
👆🏻 CLICK THRU
❗️ Meta Is Prioritizing Reels, but Advertisers Aren’t Biting
Reels might be good for engagement but the TikTok clone isn’t driving sales according to this AdWeek piece.
This is important because it could impact influencers who create whitelisted content for brands and, eventually, the algorithm’s priorities.
“If someone has a limited budget, Reels would be one of the first things we remove from it,” a performance marketer was quoted saying.
That doesn’t mean Reels is a bust since it’s good for awareness and engagement. But if advertisers don’t pour money into Reels, at some point Instagram’s either going to have to overhaul the feature or stop prioritizing the short-form video format.
🧵 What a LOT of creator economy startups don’t get about creators / influencers
I wrote a Twitter thread directed at all the start-ups trying to profit off the creator economy and it seemed to strike a nerve. The tl;dr is that creators won’t pay for something unless it’s truly a necessity. And startups hoping to cash in on creators have overestimated the inclination and the budget available to invest in their services or software. When the dust settles, a lot of these companies will have gone out of business for failing to do basic market research.
🍟 Want fries with that Ape? NFT restaurants are officially a trend.
Bored & Hungry, an NFT backed pop-up restaurant, just opened in Long Beach. The owner, Andy Nguyen, spent nearly $387,000 on one Bored Ape and two Mutant Apes NFTs to use as branding on the burger boxes, fry holders, and soft drink cups. Payment for meals will be accepted in crypto, with discounts to people who own a Bored Ape NFT.
It’s a timely gimmick given the Internet’s current obsession with Bored Ape but doesn’t necessarily translate to the fast food industry at large. According to an expert interviewed by Input Mag, “This is a concept that is only likely going to work in places where there is a high level of internet meme knowledge, or as a marketing gimmick to draw in those who are part of ‘the club.’”
👾 If the metaverse is the future of social media, teens aren’t convinced
Companies might be optimistic about the metaverse (now they can sell you physical and digital goods!) but teens aren’t convinced, according to Piper Sandler’s Taking Stock With Teens report:
50% of teens are either unsure or not interested in the Metaverse
26% said they own a device to access the metaverse, such as a VR headset
Only 5% of those teens entered the metaverse daily
🔵 Just let Elon Musk burn Twitter to the ground
Elon Musk offered $43.4 billion to buy Twitter outright. What could go wrong? LOL.
📲 You have to pay to read Vogue’s online feature about mama-to-be Rihanna but they’re basically giving away the Annie Leibovitz photos for free on Instagram.
Britney Spears Leaves Fans Confused with Instagram Post About 'Having a Baby'
Meanwhile, Britney Spears announced she is (likely) pregnant on her Instagram but reps for her and her partner Sam Asghari have yet to confirm the news.
📖 ALSO ON MY READING LIST…
How Brands Are Approaching Coachella This Year -Marketing Brew
10 Hispanic Creators to Follow for Social Media Tips -Later
The 9 Top Course Platforms for Creators to Earn Money Making and Selling Classes -Business Insider (paywall)
Metaverse Company to Offer Immortality Through ‘Live Forever’ Mode -Vice
$2.8 Million Jack Dorsey Tweet NFT Turned Out to Be a Terrible Investment -Vice
After Womblands threw their community into chaos, call-out creators face an existential crisis -Daily Dot
I Worked My Ass Off for the Kardashian-Jenner Apps. I Couldn’t Afford Gas -Vice
There Are No Laws Protecting Kids From Being Exploited on YouTube; One Teen Wants to Change That -TechCrunch
