Talk Social 5th September 2024: X Banned in Brazil and TikTok Adds a Method to Fine-tune the ‘For You Page’

X banned in Brazil

X has faced a significant setback with its recent ban in Brazil, a decision that followed its refusal to comply with local court orders.?

The Brazilian Supreme Court had mandated the removal of seven accounts linked to anti-government sentiments, primarily due to their alleged role in spreading false information and hate speech, particularly regarding the 2022 Brazilian election results.?

X’s refusal to take down these accounts led to escalating tensions, culminating in the shutdown of its Brazilian office and the platform's eventual suspension in the country. The ban has had immediate ramifications, including a loss of around 20 million users and significant advertising revenue.?

This reduction further exacerbates X’s challenges, as the company struggles with declining user numbers and ad revenue globally. While X has complied with similar requests in other regions like Turkey and Germany, it claims that the Brazilian government's demands violate local laws.

TikTok adds a method to fine-tune the ‘For You Page’

A new slider tool is coming to TikTik which will allow users to signal the content they want more of based on certain topics. For example, users may decide that they want to see more ‘dance’ content on their feed with the slider and therefore will be shown more content identified as ‘dance’.

The tool can be found under Content Preferences> Manage topics (which can be found in “Settings and Privacy”). Topics that can be preferenced include “creative arts,” “current affairs,” “humour” and more. Sliders are set to a default middle ground at first, and users can tweak it from there.

What begs to be seen is how the platform goes about categorising the videos within its feed. It is suspected that AI will play a huge role in this of course, however, it has caused some doubt to users regarding whether the AI tool can effectively decipher the difference in the videos and as such, protect the users who do not want to see certain types of content.

Threads Takes Next Steps Toward Fediverse Integration

Meta’s Threads platform is advancing its integration with the Fediverse, a decentralised network of servers that promotes open social media access. This week, Threads introduced new features allowing likes and replies from users on other fediverse platforms, such as Mastodon, to be visible within Threads.

This move is part of Meta’s broader strategy to embrace the ActivityPub protocol, which facilitates cross-platform content sharing and interaction. The Fediverse concept aims to decentralise social media control, empowering users to create and enforce their own rules and algorithms across various servers.

However, the complexity of the Fediverse poses a challenge to widespread adoption, as most users prefer the simplicity of traditional social platforms. While Meta's involvement in the fediverse has raised concerns among some proponents of decentralised social media, who view the company’s history with data misuse sceptically, Meta is keen to stay connected to this emerging trend.

Despite these moral contradictions, Threads’ ongoing integration with the fediverse could provide users with more control and a broader range of social media experiences, though its impact on the mainstream audience remains uncertain.

Instagram Adds Broadcast Channel Replies

Instagram is expanding its Broadcast Channels feature by allowing creators to enable replies from subscribers within the channel, marking a shift from its original broadcast-only format.?

While the main broadcast channel will continue to serve as a singular stream of updates from the channel admin, subscribers can now engage in discussions by replying to specific messages. These replies are not visible in the main channel feed but can be accessed by tapping on individual messages, creating a more interactive, yet still controlled, environment for followers.?

This update aligns with Instagram’s broader strategy to foster more engagement within its Direct Messages (DMs), where interaction has been increasingly concentrated. As Instagram’s main feed becomes dominated by AI-recommended content, about 50% of what users see now comes from AI suggestions rather than accounts they follow, Meta is keen to preserve the app’s social networking roots.?

Bluesky records 500,000 new users in two days

Rival platform to X, Bluesky, has recently recorded an ‘all-time high’ in new users joining, claiming over 500,000 users have jumped ship from X amid their ban from the Brazilian market.

The platform is also number one on the free iPhone app chart in Brazil this week, ranking just ahead of Threads in second position. CEO Jay Graber commented “Good job Brazil, you made the right choice”.

The record-breaking growth is particularly impressive for a platform that only opened to the public in February. The platform describes itself as “the short king of social apps”, however, the app has now amounted over 6 million users as of May 2024.