Digital Digest #71 - Sora launches; brands prepare for potential TikTok ban; democracy dies in darkness

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the last Digital Digest of 2024!

In this week's festive yuletide (not really) edition: OpenAI finally launches Sora; brands prepare for a potential US TikTok ban; and a Nieman Lab article posits that "the darkness that democracy dies in is here."

OpenAI launches Sora

To my great irritation, OpenAI launched Sora publicly a few hours after last week's Digital Digest published. (The Atlantic, Ars Technica, The Verge)

• Why it matters: Inconsiderate launch timing aside, Sora is "the most hyped bot since ChatGPT" and has the potential to revolutionize text-to-video generative AI. That said, video creation technology has come a long way since Sora was first previewed, and tools like Runway and Google Veo mean Sora is entering a more cluttered market than 10 months ago. Still, ChatGPT's massive paid userbase means Sora is likely to reach far more people than these other platforms.

Also in generative AI-related news:

• You can now talk to Google's AI podcast hosts (Mashable)
• Reddit launches AI-powered Reddit Answers to upgrade platform search (eMarketer)

Brands preparing for potential TikTok ban

The possibility of a US TikTok ban has companies thinking carefully about their social media channel strategies. (Glossy)

Why it matters: "Every brand" spoken to for the article above (focused on beauty brands, which admittedly focus more on TikTok than the average bear) was already divesting from TikTok, with the chief beneficiaries being Meta and YouTube, and working to cross-promote content on other platforms. However, the decisions go beyond the brand's own content strategy - influencer contracts are another key area, with contingencies being built into new contracts for the event of a ban.

Also in social media-related news:

• TikTok loses emergency bid to pause law that could lead to US ban (The Guardian)
• Instagram tests scheduled DMs (Social Media Today)
• Bluesky at a crossroads as users petition to ban Jesse Singal over anti-trans views, harassment (TechCrunch)

"The darkness that democracy dies in is here"

A provocative column published in Nieman Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism claims that "the darkness that democracy dies in is here," noting “This election was decided in no small part by voters who believed a number of false things about the candidates and the country. The Fourth Estate has failed.” (Nieman Lab)

• Why it matters: Sadly, there's a hefty dose of reality in the headline claim. My main issue with the piece is that the proposed solution assumes a common desire for change among influential media (using the evolved definition we discussed). I'm not sure that "engagement journalism" is powerful enough to surmount the temptations succumbed to by a number of outlets, which have instead gone the other way, making outrage and clickbait part of their business model

Also in disinformation-related news:

• AI helps Telegram remove 15 million suspect groups and channels in 2024 (TechCrunch)
• 1 in 6 Congresswomen Targeted by AI-Generated Sexually Explicit Deepfakes (Gizmodo)

On that happy note, that's all for Digital Digest this year! Thanks for reading - and see you in 2025!

Have a great week, and happy holidays.

Dave