Social Media

YouTube expands content safety for teens, parental controls: The platform is taking extra steps to protect minors in Europe as its rivals face major penalties.

TikTok boosts movie success: The platform drives theater attendance and ticket sales, especially among younger audiences.

Instagram introduces disappearing comments on Stories: The update aims to increase real-time user interaction and balance engagement with safety.

Snap mulls an app redesign and looks to smaller advertisers: In a letter to employees, the CEO blamed several factors for slow ad growth.

Shopping has spread across the entire social ecosystem. Our survey of social shoppers found that the kinds of goods and services people buy differ meaningfully across the platforms.

Instagram brings brands into the group chat: Channels feature offers brands a more intimate way to engage, but conversion success is uncertain.

39% of US creators have been approached to work on paid political content for either this election year, past election years, or both, according to June 2024 data by Censuswide and Billion Dollar Boy.

With Starlink also at risk, Musk’s companies face mounting pressure to comply with local laws or face operational bans and monetary losses.

The decision highlights the challenges of protecting minors from harmful content while ensuring moderation doesn’t infringe on free speech.

Instagram strengthens presence in India with Creator Lab: The initiative aims to boost engagement and position the platform for long-term success in a key market.

Reddit, unlike most social media platforms, is growing: Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok are seeing engagement drops, per Comscore data.

TikTok’s group messaging feature aims to capture more of Gen Z’s attention from Instagram and Snap. But TikTok will need to find a way to attract users from those platforms.

Retail is largely unprepared for a TikTok ban: While 96% of merchants are aware of the potential disruption, only 28% have a specific contingency plan.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how the new NBA media rights deal will affect all the different players, the concept of consumer modes, how much Google’s ‘AI Overviews’ will affect publishers, what will happen to X’s user base next year, the state of America’s vacation culture, and more. Tune in to the discussion with host Marcus Johnson, forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, forecasting analyst Zach Goldner, and director of forecasting Oscar Orozco.

Roblox plants deeper roots in the creator economy: The video game platform is at a fascinating crossroads of gaming and digital advertising.

Grok’s ability to generate fake political images threatens to amplify misinformation on X ahead of the elections

Pavel Durov’s arrest highlights growing concerns over content moderation, setting a precedent for holding tech leaders responsible for their platform’s misuse.

Next year, US monthly social network users will reach 236.4 million, exceeding the 228.6 million linear TV viewers, according to our June 2024 forecast.

Influencers face uncertainty amid potential TikTok ban: Most creators have backup plans and are seeing increased engagement on other platforms, with Facebook and Instagram as top alternatives.

A long-needed Instagram feature is here: The ability to add text and layer images to photos and Reels will help increase time spent on the app.