Social Media

Content mod for users: Instagram is handing over the reins to users somewhat, with a new feature for them to select how much sensitive content they want to see in their Explore tab.

TikTok wants marketers to feel the Spark: The short form video app launched a new way for advertisers to tap into successful creator content with Spark Ads, as it continues to try to bring marketers in.

Watch AR ecommerce at Snapchat's quarterly earnings: The company is sure to give more details on its push to make AR shopping a bigger part of its platform, especially after announcing two major partnerships earlier this week.

Protestors are using a US government-funded tool to bypass state-imposed social media restrictions. As global audiences are increasingly subject to censorship, Big Tech firms may need to offer features capable of bypassing local internet restrictions in order to serve those markets.

Stories are hardly a new social media format—they are nearly 8 years old on Snapchat and almost 5 on Instagram. But they are still heavily used for social media marketing, even as short-video platforms like TikTok have taken off.

Influencer marketing spending in the US is set to grow more than 30% this year and surpass a key milestone. According to our inaugural forecast on US influencer marketing spending, the category will exceed $3 billion in 2021 and will surpass $4 billion next year.

K-pop group BTS teams up with YouTube’s Shorts: The two launched an exclusive dance challenge as the platform works to install a globalized base in the heady competition among short-form video apps.

Tensions rise over vaccine misinformation: Facebook and the Biden administration got into a scuffle over the weekend after the president said the platform's failure to curb all false stories about the COVID-19 vaccine prevented the US from reaching its July 4 vaccination goal.

On today's episode, we discuss social media moderation: How is new regulation keeping social media marketers honest, which social platforms are taking the lead on self-moderation, and how have brands already fallen foul of local laws. Tune in to the discussion as eMarketer principal analyst Bill Fisher hosts senior analysts Jasmine Enberg and Matteo Ceurvels.

Paying for content: Facebook announced this week that it will invest $1 billion in incentive programs for creators across its increasingly broad array of monetization products.

On today's episode, we discuss which “digital habits” are just myths, whether travel has reached pre-pandemic levels, whether conversational commerce can take online shopping by storm, social audio getting some new big partners, which platforms creators want to create for, what it would look like if companies were mini countries, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Paul Verna, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

TikTok aims for platform and brand safety: The short-form video app rolled out a series of new content moderation guidelines for influencers, encompassing both sponsored and organic content.

Fleetus Deletus: Twitter is culling the underused Stories-like feature after a month of trying to improve adoption.

On today's episode, we discuss what Facebook has become and is trying to be, what to make of social media platforms looking more and more alike, and which of these "copycat" moves might strike gold. We then talk about the significance of Nextdoor going public, how India's social media content liability laws could impact Twitter (and others), and some changes as to what advertisers can, and can't, do on social media. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence Jasmine Enberg.

Going global: YouTube is expanding access to its TikTok clone, Shorts, to more than 100 countries this week as competition from TikTok heats up.

For the first time, we have published our TikTok user forecast for Mexico, one of the hardest-hit countries by the pandemic. As people there stayed home more in 2020, many turned to the internet for entertainment, and the number of monthly TikTok users surged 222.5% year over year, according to our estimates.

Creator economy crescendo: Amazon is quickly building out areas of its business that center on influencers, as the walls between social media and ecommerce erode and creators' roles in those spaces start to blend together.

On today's episode, we discuss what the most interesting areas of Amazon's business are, what longer videos mean for TikTok, why marketers should focus on Clubhouse and/or podcasts, why one company is bringing TV ads to console games, where Walmart beats Amazon, when we can expect to enjoy space tourism, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer director of forecasting Cindy Liu, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Twitter bets more heavily on the algorithm: It's now recommending Fleets from other accounts to users in a bid to increase time spent and improve adoption of the Story-like feature.

On today's episode, we discuss what Facebook's new virtual reality (VR) ads look like, the ad formats that will be unique to VR, and what's driving VR headset growth. We then talk about the breakdown of what Americans are watching on TV, whether we will ever see ads on Disney+ and Netflix, and whether YouTube TV has the answer for sports fans. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analysts at Insider Intelligence Victoria Petrock and Paul Verna.