TikTok took us on a rollercoaster ride, what is RedNote and how to save your TikTok performance!

Platform News

TikTok was banned, then not, then kind of still is??

What a weekend it has been! TikTok officially went dark for our US friends on Sunday as the ban came into place, but then suddenly reappeared on Monday, business as usual? Let’s get into what happened and why. Following Trump’s return to the White House on Monday he promised protection to those that would ignore the order and keep TikTok live. Oracle, the host of TikTok’s data, has honoured this promise and allowed the app to go live again.

However, app stores such as Apple and Google have declined, as they adhere to the law, meaning that although the app can be used, it cannot be downloaded for new users. For us Social Media Marketers, this puts us back in a ‘wait and see’ position, much like we were on Friday. But the actions of Influencers and Creators through Sunday afternoon and evening clearly showed us that apps we already know and love such as Instagram and Youtube, were immediately picked up, over new apps such as RedNote.?

META introduces community notes to combat removal of political censorship

This latest update places the responsibility for monitoring content onto the community, as META apps will now have an option for you to share feedback, rather than the platform itself having the algorithm dictate what is a violation. This follows a weeks worth of backlash on the decision to reduce the monitoring of controversial content, and clearly stands as the platforms way of combatting issues without involving themselves.?

TikTok updates its video editing platform

TikTok has updated its Video Editor, now part of the Symphony creative toolset, offering advanced editing tools, digital avatars, auto-captions, one-click translations, and AI-generated soundtracks. The redesigned UI simplifies access to these features and provides templates based on trending formats, helping users create more engaging clips. Although these tools can be useful, we always recommend being cautious. Have a look and a trial, but remember AI hasn’t taken over yet and being organic and real is our main priority.

Need to Know

What is Rednote?

Xiaohongshu, a Chinese short-form video app known as RedNote in English, is now the top free app in the App Store as users anticipate a potential US TikTok ban. Combining features of Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, it has 300 million monthly active users.Renowned for in-depth product reviews and a built-in e-commerce platform, RedNote lets users share experiences and shop directly through the app. Launched in 2013, it predates TikTok by three years. This app is probably the most similar to TikTok that we have seen so far, and was in competition for TikTok’s replacement.

Ploy for engagement or clever save?

Content creator @megsdeangelis shared her ad with Cerave this week, followed by a video where she honestly admits making a copy mistake and having to delete and reshare. As we know, this impacts reach on the platform and the video does not perform as well. In the second video, she asks her audience to interact with the ad so that her ‘favourite’ brand will see it did well.

?This clearly highlights the power of an engaged community online, although this ad should have not been pushed out by the algorithm and therefore had low performance, her ask to her audience led to its success. This is a clear call out to us to make sure, when working with influencers, an engaged community means more than simply a high following.?

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