Introducing new Facebook Local Tab, Messenger Communities, AI Integrations and more. Facebook has introduced several new features to enhance user experience and community engagement:

• Local tab – Designed to help users discover and connect with businesses, events and services in their area.
• Messenger communities – A new way for people to engage in group conversations around shared interests or local topics. This feature allows users to create and join community chats.
• AI-powered tools – Facebook has implemented new AI-powered tools to improve content creation and interaction:
  • AI-Generated Conversation Starters
  • AI Image Generation
  • AI-Assisted Writing

Facebook content monetization beta. Facebook has introduced a new streamlined program to help content creators monetize their work more effectively. This program consolidates various existing monetization features into a single, user-friendly platform where users can now access tools for ads, subscriptions and tipping in one centralized location, making it easier to manage revenue streams.

Meta introduces two new Facebook ads features for ecommerce. Meta has introduced updates to Facebook ads that enhance catalog support and provide improved control for e-commerce businesses. These changes aim to streamline ad management and boost the effectiveness of online marketing efforts.

Meta adds comment control and brand safety features for Facebook and Instagram ads. Advertisers can now manage comments on their ads more effectively, allowing for better interaction with audiences and protection against negative remarks.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Meta attended the 2024 United Nations General Assembly.

LinkedIn removes “Top Voice” badges. LinkedIn is discontinuing its “Top Voice” badges for collaborative articles, shifting its focus to enhancing the overall content experience and encouraging broader participation among users.

LinkedIn has released a guide on its Advanced Revenue Attribution Report. This tool helps marketers connect their CRM data with LinkedIn ad performance to track how their campaigns directly impact sales outcomes and revenue generation.

WHAT’S TRENDING
LinkedIn has released another new puzzle game, “Tango.”

Automate, measure and maximize: TikTok is building for the future with new performance advertising solutions. TikTok is introducing new advertising solutions to help brands achieve real business results with the launch of new automated Performance Tools, additional Measurement Capabilities and new Privacy Technologies.

Add surprise to your stories on TikTok with Flip Stories. To expand on the ways creators share and connect, TikTok introduced Flip Story— a new feature that allows creators to add a second side to every story that can be unlocked with a flip.

Subscription expansion: enabling more creators to enhance relationships with their communities. Subscription allows creators to offer their most engaged followers special access to exclusive perks, unique experiences, and a members only community for a monthly fee.

YouTube announces new features. The 2024 update will include over two dozen new features, including fine-tunable playback speed, collaborative playlists and a Sleep Timer. They also plan to enhance their interface across mobile, web and TV.

New updates coming to Shorts. YouTube is enhancing new features to encourage storytelling flexibility, including increasing runtimes up to three minutes, new templates for remixing and integration with YouTube’s content library.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Arkansas sues YouTube over claims that the site is fueling a mental health crisis.

YouTube inks deal to restore music videos for Adele, Nirvana, Bob Dylan and more.

X will let accounts that you’ve blocked see your posts. This change was confirmed by Elon Musk, who stated that while blocked accounts will be able to see posts, they will not be able to engage with or interact with the user who has blocked them.

X is changing its revenue-sharing model for content creators on the platform. Previously, creators earned money based on ad views from verified users. Now, earnings will be linked to engagement from X Premium subscribers, meaning that the more Premium users interact with each other’s content, the higher the potential earnings.

WHAT’S TRENDING

New data shows X is losing users in the US and UK.

Brazil fines Musk’s X for site’s return after ban.

Facebook introduces training to help creators avoid Community Standards violations. Facebook is launching a new educational initiative aimed at helping creators avoid penalties for first-time violations of its Community Standards, requiring them to complete in-app training upon their first infraction.

Meta launches new Ad Text and Title Editing feature. Meta has introduced a new visual update to its ad creation interface, which now requires advertisers to edit ad text and titles in a separate pop-up window rather than directly within the main platform.

Meta expands Advantage+ Creative with new AI-powered features. Meta has expanded its Advantage+ Creative suite by introducing new AI-powered features that enable advertisers to generate image variations and text overlays based on their existing ad content. This update aims to enhance the ad creation process, making it more efficient and personalized, with a full rollout anticipated by the end of 2024.

In-Feed Video Carousels. LinkedIn has launched in-feed video carousels that allow users to scroll through videos tailored to their interests, providing a TikToklike viewing experience.

WHAT’S TRENDING
LinkedIn and iHeartMedia collaboration.

TikTok and the Family Online Safety Institute partner to launch Digital Safety Partnership For Families. This new resource is designed to help make it easier for families to start conversations about online experiences and set positive digital boundaries together. It’s intentionally not specific to any one app or service, which means that parents and teens can customize the template agreement as they discuss important topics.

Continuing to protect the integrity of TikTok through the US elections. TikTok shared an update on additional media literacy features, expert partnerships, and transparency investments that will further strengthen how they’re protecting the safety and integrity of the platform during this election year.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Back to School with TikTok Shop.

TikTok and NFL renew partnership with multiyear agreement to further enrich the football fan experience.

Google launched new products to protect creators. Google is developing new tools to help creators protect their likenesses from unauthorized AI-generated content on YouTube, including technology to detect synthetic singing and facial representations.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Cristiano Ronaldo launches YouTube Channel.

Shopify and YouTube expand partnership.

X close to launching payment service. X is progressing towards launching its payment service, aligning with Elon Musk’s vision of transforming the platform into an “everything app.” X is working on integrating a “Payments” button into the navigation bar, along with features for transactions, balance, and transfers.

X rolls out DM editing on iOS. X has introduced a new feature that allows users to edit their DMs after sending them. This update aims to enhance user experience by giving individuals the ability to correct mistakes or modify messages without needing to send a new one.

WHAT’S TRENDING

With X blocked, Brazilians find new homes for their thoughts.

Meta changes “Made with AI” label. Meta has changed its photo tagging label from “Made with AI” to “AI info” in response to user feedback and confusion, aiming to clarify that photos may have been edited using AI tools rather than being entirely AI-generated. The underlying technology for detecting AI use remains unchanged, but the new label does not address the detection of fully AIgenerated photos or specify the extent of AI editing.

Meta AI add generation feature. Meta is developing a dedicated video generation feature for its AI system, allowing users to create longer videos, potentially in a Reels format, which would enhance its current image generation capabilities. While this feature represents a significant expansion in AI-driven content creation tools, details regarding its capabilities and release date remain unconfirmed as no official announcement has been made yet.

Meta Ads adds promo codes to boost lead generation campaigns. Meta has introduced a new feature in its Ads platform that allows advertisers to include promo codes in lead generation forms, aiming to enhance conversion rates by incentivizing users with immediate rewards for completing these forms.

Meta announced major updates to ad platform, including Google Analytics integration. Meta has announced major updates to its advertising platform, including the integration of Google Analytics and new features like Conversion Value Rules and Incremental Conversion Attribution, aimed at enhancing campaign optimization through AI-driven automation.

LinkedIn is now adding verification for company pages, following last year’s rollout for individual users. This new addition offers brands an enhanced way to build trust and credibility within the platform.

LinkedIn is rolling out sponsored newsletters, which will allow brands to promote their content and generate leads directly within the platform.

LinkedIn is now offering automated “Accelerate” ad campaigns to all brands. This AI tool makes it easy to create optimized ads by analyzing the brand’s LinkedIn presence and provided URLs.

Bending reality: TikTok what’s next 2024 shopping trend report. TikTok launched their second annual What’s Next 2024: Shopping Trend Report, where they offer a glimpse into what’s important to shoppers now — the new emotions, communities, and relationships. The new report highlights trend signals from the community using data, brand examples, and case studies, driving a new era of shopping.

Share your favorite TikTok moments with Direct Messaging. To enhance user experience and make connecting with friends even more seamless and enjoyable, TikTok introduced new updates that elevate DMs, including the highly requested group chat feature and new stickers in DM.

WHAT’S TRENDING
TikTok’s Us and global songs of the summer 2024 revealed.

6 ways to level up your Shorts with our newest creation tools. In an effort to further compete with TikTok, YouTube has introduced six new tools to enhance Shorts creation, including “Collab” for side-by-side remixes, a Q&A sticker, vertical live streaming, and tools for saving and transforming videos into Shorts.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Apple, Nvidia, Anthropic used thousands of swiped YouTube videos to train AI.

Running on Youtube is an increasing trend.

Previews of new design updates: There are significant design changes at X coming, emphasizing a minimalist approach that reduces visible controls and buttons. This redesign aims to enhance user interaction by shifting to a hapticfocused system, where users will swipe left to like and right to reply, moving away from traditional button presses.

WHAT’S TRENDING

X is testing the removal of like, comment, and repost buttons from replies.

Elon Musk’s X sues advertisers over alleged ‘massive advertiser boycott’ after Twitter takeover.

Meta has introduced a new feature called Proactive Policy Alerts to enhance the ad creation process on its platforms. These alerts will notify advertisers in real-time if their ads potentially violate Meta’s policies, allowing them to make necessary adjustments before submitting the ad for review. The feature aims to streamline the ad approval process, reduce policy violations, and improve the overall advertising experience on Meta’s platforms.

Meta rolls out update to attribution settings. Meta has introduced a significant update to its Ads platform, allowing advertisers to edit attribution settings and distinguish between all conversions and first conversions after an ad view or click. This new feature aims to address the common issue of inflated conversion counts in Meta’s reporting, providing advertisers with more accurate data to align with their backend numbers and better understand their true customer acquisition costs.

Premium Company Pages offer advanced features like lead generation forms and content suggestions to help businesses enhance their presence and engagement on the platform.

LinkedIn has updated its newsletter platform with a new reader interface, profile embedding, staging links for previews, AI-generated cover images and enhanced subscriber notifications.

Sponsored Newsletters will allow businesses to create and distribute newsletter content to targeted audiences on the platform.

Update to the Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt file) give high-level instructions about how Reddit allows and doesn’t allow the site to be crawled by third parties. Along with this update to the robots.txt file, they are continuing ratelimiting and/or blocking unknown bots and crawlers from accessing reddit.com.

TikTok What’s Next 2024: In Action Trend Report. At the end of 2023, TikTok released the What’s Next 2024 Trend Report, their annual predictions for the biggest trends and cultural moments for the year ahead. As a follow up, they launched What’s Next 2024: In Action, an updated report that demonstrates how these trends grew and evolved through brand and creator success stories.

Out of Phone: Mission: Amplifying Our Community’s Creativity Beyond the Phone. By combining the power of TikTok and creators, brands have the opportunity to create powerful new mixed-media approaches through Out of Phone: Mission that reach audiences at all stages of the sales funnel. This solution will make it easier for brands to co-create authentic branded content that resonates on-platform while amplifying it through digital out-of-home channels, such as billboards, urban panels, and more, for a full funnel solution.

TikTok U.S. Data Security names independent security inspectors as part of digital integrity and compliance journey. TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. (USDS) is further enhancing the security of TikTok users’ data and protection against cybersecurity threats by appointing HaystackID and OnDefend to serve as Independent Security Inspectors (ISIs) for USDS.

Supporting small businesses on TikTok Shop. TikTok’s latest initiative to invest in and support small businesses on TikTok Shop: Supporting Our Artisans and Retailers (SOAR) Together. This program will provide tailored support and resources to help participating SMBs rapidly advance their businesses and creative endeavors on TikTok Shop.

Meet Symphony Avatars: TikTok’s new creative AI tool. With Symphony, businesses of all sizes, creators, and agencies can blend human imagination with AI-powered efficiency to help scale content development, creativity, and productivity on TikTok.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Announcing ‘Deals For You Days’: Discover the hottest savings on TikTok Shop this July.

YouTube has updated its “Erase Song” tool to allow creators to remove copyrighted music from their videos without affecting other audio components, like dialogue. This tool, leveraging advanced AI, aims to provide more precise edits and is now available to all users on YouTube Studio, both on desktop and mobile platforms.

YouTube takes on TikTok with new short video tools. YouTube has updated its Shorts feature to drive more creators to the platform, including the ability to add voiceovers, music, and other effects to their short videos.

WHAT’S TRENDING
YouTube is a media giant hiding in plain sight.

X now hides your “likes” from other users. X has implemented a significant change to its platform by making all users’ “likes” private. This means that users can no longer see which posts others have liked, although they can still view their own liked posts.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation have all dropped X/Twitter support.

Introducing new AI tools for creative and performance, and brand safety updates. Pinterest is sharing new details about how it is leveraging AI to produce creative, improve campaign performance and measure brand safety for advertisers.

Introducing a new way to share Pinterest boards on social media. The new board sharing feature lets users effortlessly share dynamic videos of their favorite Pinterest boards to other social platforms. With board sharing, Pinterest streamlines the process of sharing Pinned content and enables users to include a link for others to explore their entire board on the platform.

The Future of Facebook. In a newsroom update, Tom Alison, Head of Facebook, outlined that the app is shifting to reflect an “increased focus on young adults” compared with other users. “Facebook is still for everyone, but in order to build for the next generation of social media consumers, we’ve made significant changes with young adults in mind,” he wrote. Updates include:

• Expanding AI capabilities
• Video improvements
• Creator opportunities

New option to reply to specific DMs on mobile. LinkedIn has added a feature to its mobile app that allows users to reply to specific messages within a chat, enhancing conversation clarity and user interaction.

Updated link previews in organic posts. In an effort to encourage more native posting and potentially increase paid promotion usage, LinkedIn reduced the size of link preview pages for organic posts while maintaining the larger preview images for sponsored content.

AI-generated labels. LinkedIn has started labeling AI-generated content in its feed by partnering with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), allowing users to identify and trace the origins of AI-created media.

New premium video ad placement and AI tools. LinkedIn has introduced premium video ad placement options and enhanced AI-driven ad tools to help advertisers effectively target and engage with their audience on the platform.

Reddit expands partnership with Sprinklr.

• Connecting enterprise customers with redditors.
• Sprinklr customers can now analyze the public conversations on Reddit to better understand how their audiences think, feel and the actions they take. As a result, Sprinklr customers can better inform their paid and organic strategies on Reddit.

Reddit has a new partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS). The partnership will give advertisers an additional layer of trusted, third-party transparency in their Reddit campaign reporting and added confidence in the strength and success of their Reddit ads.

Helping Creators Bring Their Creativity to Life with TikTok Studio. TikTok Studio is a new comprehensive creation and management platform equipped with tools creators can use to create, edit, upload, manage and analyze their TikTok account and content performance.

Strengthening the ability to countering influence attempts. TikTok shared updates about their ongoing work to counter influence attempts like expanding policies for state-affiliated media and introducing a new transparency report focused on their work to eliminate covert influence operations.

TikTok World 2024: New Ad Solutions to Harness Creativity, Entertainment and Performance. At the 4th annual TikTok World product summit, they introduced new business solutions to help brands chart new territories on TikTok with a new suite of Creative AI tools, Performance and Measurement solutions, and enhancements to high impact Branding placements.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Inspiring meaningful change through the TikTok Change Makers Program.

Games are now available on the YouTube app. YouTube is introducing a new feature called Playables, which allows users to play a selection of free games directly on the platform via the Explore menu on the Home page.

YouTube toughens policies on gun videos and youth. The platform is updating its policies to restrict videos showing the removal of firearm safety devices, homemade guns, automatic weapons and certain accessories to users aged 18 and younger, in an effort to prevent underage users from accessing potentially dangerous content.

WHAT’S TRENDING
A tiny museum creates a viral YouTube account.

X now hides what posts you like from other users. Users can still see their own likes, but the list of those who have liked a post will be invisible to others. This change aims to improve privacy and increase user engagement by encouraging more likes. Previously, the option to hide likes was exclusive to paying Premium subscribers.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Elon Musk confirms Twitter’s transformation is complete. It’s now X.com.

Pinterest’s latest campaign turns finding yourself into an adventure. Pinterest’s new 2024 brand campaign taps into that spirit of inspiration by taking viewers on a cinematic journey through the fantastical, whimsical world of Pinterest.

WHAT’S TRENDING

The Pinterest Summer 2024 Trend Report: Embrace big, bold style.

Meet your new assistant: Meta AI. Meta recently unveiled its artificial intelligence tool, Meta AI, last week across its various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. According to the news release, Meta AI allows users to “access realtime information from across the web without having to bounce between apps.”

WHAT’S TRENDING
Meta is discontinuing Workplace to focus on AI and metaverse.

In-stream games now avaliable. LinkedIn has introduced “Stream Games,” a feature enabling users to engage in casual games within the platform, fostering competition and potentially influencing user rankings.

New business subscription option. LinkedIn is experimenting with new features for Premium Company Pages, including a Business Subscription option, aiming to provide businesses with enhanced tools and insights for their LinkedIn presence.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Professional use of Generative AI

Reddit and OpenAI announced a partnership. The partnership will benefit both the Reddit and OpenAI user communities in a number of ways:

• OpenAI will bring Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities.
• Reddit will be building on OpenAI’s platform of AI models to bring its powerful vision to life.
• OpenAI will become a Reddit advertising partner.

New ways to AMA. The platform is announcing a number of new tools to make hosting and participating in AMAs (ask me anything) easier and more fun.

Partnering with our industry to advance AI transparency and literacy. TikTok is starting to automatically label AI-generated content (AIGC) when it’s uploaded from certain platforms. To help the community navigate AIGC and misinformation online, they’re also launching new media literacy resources.

NewFronts ‘24: Introducing new premium ad solutions for marketers. TikTok introduced new offerings within the TikTok Pulse Suite, giving advertisers more choice and control over the context they appear next to, and new cross media measurement capabilities to help advertisers better understand TikTok’s unique value in their media buy.

Universal Music Group and TikTok announce new licensing agreement. Universal Music Group, the world-leader in music-based entertainment and TikTok announced a new multi-dimensional licensing agreement that will deliver significant industry-leading benefits for UMG’s global family of artists, songwriters and labels and will return their music to TikTok’s billion-plus global community.

WHAT’S TRENDING
TikTok goes to the Met Gala.

Visionary Voices: Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

At Brandcast 2024: There’s only one YouTube. For more than a year, YouTube has been the #1 most watched streaming platform on TV, and this week Nielsen shared that YouTube continues its incredible momentum as not only the top streamer, but the second most-watched media distributor overall on TV.

WHAT’S TRENDING
Call of Duty league major III tournament.

Inside the NBA reacts to Timberwolves stunning game 7 win to eliminate the Nuggets.

Elon Musk plans to charge new X users to enable posting. Elon Musk may plan to charge a fee for new users joining X to combat the persistent issues of bots on the platform.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Nintendo Switch losing X/Twitter integration.

X TV App: What we know about X’s new cross-device video service.

WHAT’S TRENDING

The Pinterest Summer 2024 Travel Report.

Exploring Videos on Facebook Just Got Easier. Meta is introducing an updated video player on Facebook that brings together Reels, longer videos and Live content all in one fullscreen, engaging experience. When you tap on a video anywhere on the Facebook app, you’ll now consistently see a fullscreen, vertically oriented video.

HD Photos, Shared Albums and More on Messenger. You can now send clearer, crisper photos in high definition and create shared albums with friends in Messenger chats. Additionally, users can also now send files up to 100MB in your Messenger chats.

Meta’s Approach to Labeling AI-Generated Content and Manipulated Media. Based on feedback received from their Oversight Boards, Meta will begin labeling a wider range of video, audio and image content as “Made with AI” when they detect industry standard AI image indicators or when people disclose that they’re uploading AI-generated content.

Company page messaging. Page Messaging is now available to all businesses on LinkedIn. This feature adds a “Message” button to your company profile, making it easier for visitors to reach out to your business directly through the app.

Dedicated video feed. LinkedIn is testing a new, dedicated video feed in the app, which displays content in a TikTok-style, full-screen format, leaning into the broader vertical video trend.

Finding collaborative articles. Some LinkedIn users have a new “Contribute Expertise” shortcut in the post composer. This shortcut takes you to collaborative articles where you can contribute based on your expertise and niche.

WHAT’S TRENDING
LinkedIn benchmarks and key insights for 2024.

New Smart Headlines tool powered by generative AI: Advertisers simply input their website URL, and Reddit’s Smart Headlines generator will automate a range of options for ad copy headlines, specifically generated with Reddit’s unique audience in mind.

Get inspired with Creator Search Insights. A new tool available in select regions that gives creators insight into topics people are searching for on TikTok. With these insights, creators can source inspiration for their content, tailor their creative strategies to meet audience interests and create content that people want to see more of.

Introducing the New Creator Rewards Program. Now officially out of beta, the new Creator Rewards Program will continue to reward high-quality, original content that is over a minute long, using an optimized rewards formula focused on four core metrics: originality, play duration, search value and audience engagement.

Announcing the launch of TikTok’s Youth Council. The group’s goals are to focus on teen well-being and inclusion to help ensure TikTok continues to be a safe and accessible space for young people to show up as who they are.

WHAT’S TRENDING
TikTok Tailgate Scores Big.

Oxford Economics Reports: SMB’s use of TikTok Contributed $24.2 Billion to U.S. Economy in 2023.

YouTube unveils new shopping features for enhanced online retail experience. The platform introduced new features aimed at streamlining the online shopping experience. This includes the ability to browse and purchase products directly from creators’ videos, enhancing accessibility and convenience.

YouTube Implements Disclosure Policy for AI-Generated Content. YouTube announced a new policy requiring creators to disclose if their content has been generated with the assistance of AI tools in a move to promote transparency

WHAT’S TRENDING
YouTube Says OpenAI Training Sora With Its Videos Would Break Rules.

YouTube’s Coachella 2024 Free Livestream Will Let You Watch up to Four Stages on One Screen.

Elon Musk’s X restores free blue checks. This comes only a year after asking users to pay $8 per month for the status.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Inside X’s latest efforts to make advertisers believe it’s a platform that’s safe for brands.

Musk challenges Brazil court order to block certain X accounts.

Pinterest’s new body type ranges deliver better and more inclusive search results. Pinterest is launching an innovative new tool, body type ranges, which gives users the choice to self-select what body types are featured in their search results for women’s fashion and wedding ideas.

WHAT’S TRENDING

Pinterest x Coachella 2024: Top festival trends and celebrity stylists’ Board Drop.