Digital Digest #9 - Twitter caps usage; TikTok's creative challenges; AI's seismic impact on the web

Hi everyone,

Hope you had (or, for my US friends, are having) a good weekend!

Weird timing for this week's newsletter, thanks to the Canada Day long weekend. Also, a heads-up that Digital Digest will be taking a pause as my wife and I are taking our kids to visit their grandparents in the UK for a couple of weeks, and doing our utmost to do a bit of a digital detox along the way. Normal service will resume on July 31.

Without further ado, let's get into this week's stories!

1. Twitter caps users' content views

On Saturday Elon Musk announced that Twitter would begin limiting the number of pieces of content viewable by users per day, claiming that data scrapers were causing massive server loads. As of writing, new accounts can view 500 tweets per day, established accounts 1,000 and verified accounts 10,000. (The Verge, Mashable)

• Why it matters: Want to infuriate users (who can't scroll through the app), businesses (whose community managers will be hamstrung) and advertisers (whose ads will likely see lower views) all in one fell swoop? This bizarre move is how to do it. Imagine having paid for a sponsored trend this week. Another nail in the coffin.

2. TikTok launches "Creative Challenges" for content creators

TikTok launched a new feature allowing brands to set up "Creative Challenges" for content creators to respond to, for a chance to have their content selected for use by the brand. (The Verge)

• Why it matters: The feature could potentially shorten the turnaround time for content partnerships, and increase opportunities for creators to be noticed. However, it's not all roses – as The Verge notes, there's no guarantee that creators will get compensated for their work (anyone know an agency that likes spec work??), and brands will need to pay close attention to vetting those they choose to partner with.
• Also in influencer marketing: Shein flew influencers to China to help its image. A backlash ensued. (NYT)

3. Google introduces Perspectives to surface crowdsourced results

Google has introduced a new feature called Perspectives, which aims to better surface content from forums and social media such as TikTok, YouTube, Reddit and Quora. (CNBC)

• Why it matters: This has been in the works for a while, but the timing of the rollout may help to to mitigate the fallout from the ongoing Reddit boycott saga – one piece of which is that as subreddit moderators continue to protest, people are finding that the common search tactic of appending "reddit" to regular search queries to get crowdsourced answers is no longer as effective.

4. Generative AI having a seismic impact on the web

"AI?is killing the old web" says The Verge, with impacts across content generation, social media algorithms, chatbots, spam, the very nature of search, and more (The Verge)

• Why it matters: We are in the midst of another seismic shift in the way we use the web, and just as in earlier shifts (the emergence of social media, the rise of mobile) the companies who win are going to be the ones who actively and deliberately chart a course through the risks and opportunities.

Also in generative AI this week:

• House restricts congressional use of ChatGPT, with a privacy and confidentiality focus (The Verge)
• AI law draws pushback from big brands in Europe (WSJ)
• Training AIs is one thing, but how do you untrain them when you need them to forget something (scenarios might include cases of unfair bias, or for privacy reasons)? Google has issued a "machine unlearning" challenge to try to solve this. (Google)

5. Meta explains how its AI ranks the content you see

Another AI story, but not generative AI this time -- Meta has released details of how its AI systems rank the content you see on Facebook and Instagram. (Meta)

• Why it matters: Whether or not this is part of "a wider ethos of openness, transparency and accountability" as the company claims, the company has been under pressure to be more transparent for some time and this is a welcome step, and well-executed in plain language.

Have a great week... see you later in the month!

Dave?