Mad Digest Weekly Updates 18th June - 24th June

Instagram Adds New Age Verification Features to Better Detect and Protect Younger Users.

Instagram testing new options for people on Instagram to verify their age, starting with people based in the US. If someone attempts to edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over, we’ll require them to verify their age using one of three options: upload their ID, record a video selfie or ask mutual friends to verify their age.

That’ll provide an extra level of protection within Instagram’s systems, in cases where there’s a question about a user’s age. Meta once had a similar system in place for re-accessing locked accounts, with?‘Trusted Friends’ able to confirm your identity.

That’s since been depreciated, but this new process will use a similar system to confirm a users’ age, adding another layer of confirmation. The final new measure is the capacity to upload?your ID to verify your age.?

“We will use your ID to confirm your age and help keep our community safe. Your ID will be stored securely on our servers and is deleted within 30 days.”

Snapchat Launches New Support Program for Emerging Black Creators

Snapchat has announced the launch of a?new accelerator program for Black creators, which will see Snap provide ongoing financial support, training and more to 25 emerging stars over the next year.

As outlined in the video, selected creators will receive $10k in funding per month for 12 months through the program, along with early access to Snap features, a new Google Pix. The program is part of Snap’s 523 initiative, which provides?support for small content companies and creators from underrepresented groups. Snapchat also has its?Yellow?program targeted towards entrepreneurs who are building businesses, brands, and products ‘that can contribute to human progress’, and in combination, the company now has a range of initiatives designed to help those from less privileged backgrounds gain traction and build a career via the app.

Twitter Adds New Ways to Promote Spaces Usage as it Seeks to Maximize Audio Adoption

Twitter’s adding some new ways to?promote Spaces usage, with new Spaces buttons within the tweet composer and retweet flow, which could see more users launching topical discussions in the app.

As you can see in this example, the new Spaces button in the tweet composer will enable you to launch a Spaces broadcast instead of tweeting your thoughts.

“Simply tap the Spaces icon on the bottom left to start a new Space”

You’ll also now be able to start a Space from the retweet menu, which will skip the usual set up process and immediately take you live, with the tweet automatically be pinned at the top of the Space.

Twitter’s also testing a new way for hosts and speakers to share Tweets in a Space via the Retweet menu, providing another way to add context to your audio chats.

The options provide more streamlined avenues into audio chats, which could get more people at least considering launching their own discussions.

Reddit Looks to Boost Reddit Talks Discovery, Adds New Soundboard Option

Reddit’s looking to improve discovery of audio rooms in its app, via its?Reddit Talks?option, with a new?showcase of in-progress sessions across the top of the main screen, which will now present rooms from both subreddits that you follow, and those that you may be interceded in.

As you can see in this example,?the live bar on your Reddit home feed will now surface talks that you may be interested in based on topics chosen by the creator of the Reddit Talks session. Reddit will then present these links to users in related communities.

Twitter Launches ‘Campaign Planner’ Platform to Assist in Twitter Ad Strategies

After testing it over the past six months, Twitter has?announced?the official launch of its new ‘Campaign Planner’ platform to assist with your Twitter ads strategy.

Campaign Planner enables Twitter advertisers to?forecast their campaign results before launching them on the platform, via a range of estimation tools based on your entered variables.

As you can see in this example, Campaign Planner is able to forecast reach, impressions, average frequency, and CPM, based on your chosen parameters, while it also provides insights on budget requirements, and likely results, based on Twitter’s database.

And if you’re happy with a campaign forecast, you can also launch your ads right from the app.

The insights are based on estimates, so they won’t be 100% accurate, but they’re ideally indicative enough to provide value in your assessment, which could help to guide your Twitter advertising process.

LinkedIn Adds New Event Engagement Options, Simplified ‘Repost’ Process

LinkedIn’s looking to provide more engagement options, in order to build on its?record levels of user activity, with new?comment and comment reply options on Event pages, and a?new ‘Repost’ option, providing another way to amplify LinkedIn updates.

First off, on Event comments – building on Events engagement, LinkedIn is now rolling out more comment engagement options within LinkedIn Events, to encourage on-topic discussion and engagement.

As you can see in this example, now, within the Comments tab of a LinkedIn event, you can engage with attendees before, during and after the session, while you can also reply to specific comments in-stream.

As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert?Matt Navarra, soon, you’ll see a new ‘Repost’ option when you tap on the ‘Share’ prompt, which will enable you to share without adding a comment (currently your only option).

That’ll make it easier to amplify job opportunities, as per the example here, while it will also help to streamline app engagement, by reducing the onus on users to add their own commentary to every re-share.

Trending ?

Google will now pay Wikipedia

• Google has agreed to pay Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit group behind Wikipedia.
• Google has become the first ever customer of Wikipedia.
• The Wikimedia Foundation had recently launched the Wikimedia Enterprise as an opt-in product.

Google and Wikimedia Enterprise have struck a deal. Google and the nonprofit digital library Internet Archive have become the first customers for the Wikimedia Enterprise.

The search giant will pay Wikimedia Enterprise for how the free content is packaged to better meet their needs. The Wikimedia Foundation had recently launched the Wikimedia Enterprise as an opt-in product. The company will offer a free trial account to new users who can self sign-up to better assess their needs with the product.

Meta Implements New Policies to Protect Consumers and Businesses from Fraudulent Reviews

The new policy has been created ‘to ensure that reviews are based on real purchasing experiences’, while also keeping fraudulent and offensive feedback out of view. In other words, Meta’s now implementing new processes to detect false and misleading reviews, to limit the scope of those using reviews as a weapon, and to stop people from trying to scam the system with false positive feedback.

More than?200 million businesses?connect with their customers through our apps and technologies. Community feedback provides businesses with helpful insights from their customers and helps people make trusted purchasing decisions as they discover new products.

To help keep things in order, Meta’s now implementing more specific regulations on what is and isn’t allowed in product and business reviews, including clear rules against incentivization and parameters around relevance.

Meta says that it’ll rely?on automated technology and human reviewers to detect potential violations, while it also encourages people and businesses to report questionable reviews in its apps.

Featured

2022 Update: Brands take near me queries seriously

Have you ever been out with friends and wanted to grab a quick bite? Or were you out on the town and your footwear gave way and you needed a quick fix so you searched for a footwear store near you? In the current day and age, the I want it, I need it, I got it, culture is extremely prevalent and people want results, options and a quick fix as soon as possible.?LINK