Just when you thought this year couldn’t get any tougher, this week brought protests and boycotts in the wake of white police officer Rusten Sheskey firing seven shots at the back of Black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.; 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse killing two people at the protests; fires smoldering in California; and Hurricane Laura touching down in Louisiana and leaving at least six people dead.
Social media was in the thick of things, often to disastrous effects. Facebook failed to halt militia group Kenosha Guard from issuing a call to arms on its platform prior to the Rittenhouse shooting. Since the shooting, it banned the group and blocked searches for Rittenhouse, but praise for him is still spreading in its feeds.
The continued adverse role of social media in current events puts companies in a tricky position. In an article published this week in Forbes, Amine Bentahar, chief operating and digital officer at AVX Digital, argues they shouldn’t ignore social media maladies. He writes, “Not everyone can afford to boycott social media with their advertising campaigns, especially smaller companies that depend on traffic and business from them to survive. But in this current social climate, advertisers should at least be having discussions about the topic—and about flexible advertising strategies for the future.”
Social media hasn’t been completely passive in the face of ongoing problems. Recently, LinkedIn took action to ensure its users feel comfortable communicating within its universe. We explore that development and four more in this wrap-up of social media news you should know.
1. The TikTok Times
With TikTok due to be banished from the U.S. on Sept. 15, TikTok sued the government to stave off the ban. Meanwhile, the race to acquire TikTok remains underway. In a surprising move this week, Walmart entered the race in partnership with Microsoft. Oracle is another contender. No matter what deal takes place or whether it takes place, concerns about TikTok are likely to persist, including those about the data it collects. In a piece that ran Wednesday, The New York Times consumer technology writer Brian Chen cautioned people to limit the access they provide to apps such as TikTok. For example, he has stopped TikTok from accessing his phone’s camera and microphone. Read more here.
We should take steps to minimize the data we share with all apps, writes @bxchen. Here’s how. https://t.co/4SGs2T85Do
— NYTimes Tech (@nytimestech) August 26, 2020
2. Social Media Exposé
Debuting Sept. 9, Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma,” which chronicles the dark side of social media, might convince you to delete your social media accounts. The film by Jeff Orlowski features repentant Silicon Valley figures sounding the alarm about big tech companies spying on people, manipulating their feeds to keep them glued to their screens, and deepening biases. Learn more about the film and the threats social media poses in a Vanity Fair interview with Orlowski.
3. Twitter’s Anti-Spam Initiative
Twitter will now hide tweets that have been copied and pasted without any modifications from the source. In an effort to stop spam efforts, the social network has updated its censorship policy to include “copypasta,” which is internet slang for a piece of text that’s been duplicated from the original post and shared widely across forums and websites. Learn more here.
https://twitter.com/TwitterComms/status/1298810494648688641
4. LinkedIn’s Professionalism
LinkedIn has taken steps to ensure conversations on its platform remain respectful and professional. In addition to strengthening its professional community policies, LinkedIn is tapping artificial intelligence and machine learning to protect against inappropriate content. Learn more about what the career-oriented social media network is doing here.
Here are some of the changes we’re making to help keep conversations safe, trusted and professional: https://t.co/uPEZzlFXiy
— LinkedIn (@LinkedIn) August 25, 2020
5. Social Media Marketer Burnout
In social media management software firm Sprout Social’s digital publication Adapt, VP of content and communications Kristin Johnson writes, “For marketers, it feels like we’ve been in crisis management mode since March.” Amid the constant crises, extreme burnout is real. Johnson advises managers overseeing social media teams be attuned to the symptoms of burnout, and enact short- and long-term organizational solutions to address them. Check out her valuable recommendations here.
The need to be constantly plugged in puts social managers at risk of extreme burnout. How are you supporting your team? #ThinkActAdapt https://t.co/yngLaNoue3
— Sprout Social (@SproutSocial) August 27, 2020
It could be a long way from being determined as they’re in the thick of dealing with how to respond to misinformation about vote counting. Meanwhile, the holiday shopping season is right around the corner, and e-commerce and social media firms are gearing up for one that is likely to be held online in a manner unheard of in previous years. We explore holiday marketing strategies suiting this unusual time and four other topics in our rundown of digital news this week.
1. California’s Proposition 24
Big tech was on the ballot in California, where voters passed Proposition 24, which toughens consumers’ privacy rights by allowing them to prevent companies from sharing their data and correct inaccurate personal information. The new law will undoubtedly have an impact across the country as the likes of Facebook and Google adjust to it. Learn more here.
California just passed a major privacy law that will make it harder for Facebook and Google to track people and gather data https://t.co/8A4HsmTmkE
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) November 4, 2020
2. TikTok Creators’ Big Win
A group of TikTok influencers each with over a million followers filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s TikTok ban and won. They argued they’d lose followers and income from the ban, and a judge ruled the hypothetical risk of TikTok proposed by the Trump administration wasn’t enough to outweigh the public interest. Learn more here.
TikTok stars got a judge to block Trump's TikTok ban https://t.co/S3JTdKPb9k by @sarahintampa @panzer
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) October 31, 2020
3. Pinterest’s Shopping Solutions
Pinterest is inviting brands to join them next week to learn more about its new suite of shopping solutions. Join Pinterest’s ad product and creative strategy teams on Thursday for a deep dive into how to set up shop and generate sales on Pinterest. Learn more and register here.
There are more shoppers on Pinterest than ever before, and we're just getting started.
— Pinterest Business (@pinterestbiz) November 2, 2020
Join us Thursday, November 12 at 10:30am PT to learn more about our new suite of shopping solutions for brands.
Sign up: https://t.co/vaXTUFajQl pic.twitter.com/Zkfz7SFGQz
4. Holiday Marketing Ideas
According to Salesforce, up to 30% of retail sales in the United States are expected to happen on digital channels this year, and holiday shopping will start sooner than in years past. Instagram marketing platform Later is offering holiday marketing ideas to help brands take advantage of the online shift. Click here to find out about six ways, including holiday-themed giveaways and customer appreciation campaigns, to get creative with holiday marketing.
https://twitter.com/latermedia/status/1323339093640503296
5. Beauty Brands’ TikTok Success
Beauty brands such as NYX and E.l.f Cosmetics have found TikTok success through paid campaigns. Now, many brands are focusing on achieving brand awareness on the app with unpaid efforts. Glossy touched base with MBX on its brands Kaja and I Dew Care to chronicle their rises on TikTok. Read more about the company’s TikTok tactics here.
The focus is on more unpaid efforts to achieve brand awareness, with brands honing in on specific strategies. https://t.co/tLBY6KSjKa
— Glossy (@glossyco) November 4, 2020
