Jan 2024 Social Platform Updates

LinkedIn is getting rid of profile hashtags. TikTok is testing 30-min videos. And Meta introduced new teen safety settings.

Here's everything you missed from social platforms last month...

Artifact ✳️

✦ The personalized news app launched by Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger is shutting down after less than a year.

BeReal. ⚡

✦ Introduced RealPeople and RealBrands, which provides verified accounts for celebrities and companies.

Facebook 👍

✦ Introduced new safety settings for teens, including turning off the ability to receive messages from anyone they don’t follow or are connected to by default.

Instagram 📷

✦ Added notifications for new followers from collaborative posts.

LinkedIn 🤝

✦ Announced plans to deprecate profile hashtags in February.

✦ Will move the About section to the top of user profiles and allow creator mode users to choose between Follow or Connect as their main CTA starting in March.

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Substack ✍️

✦ Added a report button to allow readers to flag posts and publications.

TikTok ♪

✦ Announced it will raise its sales commission from 2% + $0.30 to 8% over the next few months and has started reducing some merchant subsidies.

✦ Limited users from viewing hashtag data trends via its Creative Center, following accusations of geopolitical bias related to the Israel-Hamas War.

✦ Launched an “AI Song” feature, which uses text prompts to generate original music.

✦ Experimenting with 30-minute long videos.

✦ Testing a new feature that identifies objects in videos and links to similar products for sale on TikTok Shop.

Twitch 🎮

✦ Updated its attire policies to ban “implied nudity.”

✦ Changed its payout programs to allow streamers who maintain 100 Plus Points for 3 consecutive months to qualify for a 60/40 revenue share for subscriptions (above the typical 50/50 split).

X 🐦

✦ Musk claims X will give creators 100% of revenue from ads that appear on their livestream content.

✦ Deprecated support for NFT profile pictures.

YouTube 🎥

✦ Added support for RSS feeds for podcasts.

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