Week of Aug 29 - Sep 2

As the industry churns and platforms change, we've got you with our weekly NBX Pulse. Twitter has dropped their pay-to-play 'Edit' button, BeReal continues to inspire copycats, Meta tries to read the NFT leaves, Snap continues to spiral, and we dig up infographics & data for your daily dive-ins.?

?? Platform Updates:

???? Tweet Editing is Here, with Live Testing Now Active in the App - Live. Twitter has today launched the first stage of live testing for what’s arguably the most requested social media platform addition of all-time – the capacity to edit a tweet after posting.

Twitter Tests New Format for Tweeted Links - Link. Twitter’s testing a new format for publisher links, with what it’s calling its ‘Tweet Tiles’ display.

Twitter Opens Up ‘Circles’ Private Sharing Option to All Users - Link. The ‘Circles’ enclosed group tweeting option, which it first launched to selected users in May this year, is now bringing Circles to all users on iOS, Android, and the web.

Twitter Tests New Professional Account Options, Including Updated Link Buttons and Shopping Tools - Link. Twitter’s slowly adding more options to its Professional Accounts tools, with new, variable link CTAs now being rolled out to business users in the app.

Meta Invites Applications for the Third Phase of its ‘Community Accelerator’ Program - Link. Meta has opened up applications for the third iteration of its Community Accelerator Program, which provides training, advice and monetary support for community leaders to help them maximize their use of Facebook’s tools to facilitate growth.?

Meta Will Cease Support for its Separate Facebook Gaming App on October 28th - Link. Seen in this in-app update screen, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, Meta’s removing support for its Gaming app from October 28th.

Meta Expands NFT Display Options on Instagram and Facebook, as it Looks to Build for the Next Stage - Link. Meta is gearing up for the next stage of NFT engagement, with an expansion of its NFT sharing tools to Facebook, in addition to Instagram.

Meta is planning more paid features for Facebook and Instagram - Link. Meta is setting up a product organization to identify and build “possible paid features” for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, according to an internal memo sent to employees last week.

Instagram Launches New Tools to Help Refine Content Recommendations - Link. Instagram has announced some new features designed to help users provide more direct input into what they’re shown in the app, in order to further align their IG feed to their preferences.

This is a deliberate move to compete with TikTok’s massive success and its highly attuned algorithm

TikTok Shares New Guidance for Brands in Video Series - Link. TikTok has shared a new series of video clips, which outline some of the key elements of TikTok for brands, including creating a business account, creating and uploading TikTok clips, and setting up your Ads Manager profile.

?? Industry News & Highlights:

Franchises are turning to pop-up experiences to drum up fervor and FOMO - Link. “We’re pulling from that idea that people love going to theme parks,” said one creative agency exec who has worked on experiences for Westworld and Game of Thrones.

The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Checklist [Infographic] - Link. The team from SEMRush have put together a new overview of essential social media marketing elements, which will help to guide your thinking and planning, to maximize your SMM performance.

20 Best Practices to Build a Perfect eCommerce Product Page [Infographic] - Link. The team from Optimonk share the eCommerce best practices you should follow in this infographic.

Twitter Shares New Insight into the Value of Utilizing Ad Format Combinations in Your Tweet Marketing - Link. Twitter has published a new overview of how utilizing various tweet ad combinations within your campaigns can help to maximize overall performance, no matter what your focus goal is in your efforts.

LinkedIn Announces New Certification Course Partnerships with Meta, IBM, Oracle and More - Link. LinkedIn has announced a new series of educational partnerships with IBM, Meta, Oracle and more which will provide official certifications and recognitions for skills that you can then display on your LinkedIn profile.

Exec departures at Snap after report of workforce cuts - Link. Two top executives at Snap are leaving to join Netflix, the streaming giant said Tuesday after a report emerged that the Snapchat parent company is to slash its workforce by a fifth.

Best Marketing Campaigns of the Week - AdForum - Link. Recent Ad Campaign highlights from around the world.

Creativity Top 20 - AdAge - Link. The AdAge Creativity Top 20 reflects the most viewed work on the site each day. The view counts are updated daily. This is a solid resource for weekly, timely updates on impressive campaigns from various sectors that people are paying attention to & reading about—and the agencies that produced them.

?? Social Trends & Insights:

Global Differences in Influencer Marketing - Link. Influencer marketing has become integral to any brand’s messaging strategy worldwide. But there’s certainly no “one size fits all” approach, since every market is different

YouTube Says That an Increasing Number of Viewers are Watching Videos at Faster Playback Speeds - Link. YouTube reports that users ‘save an average of over 900 years of video time per day’ because they’re watching videos at faster speeds.

New Report Shows Young Users Still Log Onto Facebook Regularly But are Spending More Time in Other Apps - Link. According to new data from data.ai: “The number one social app in the US by Gen Z monthly active usage is actually Facebook, with TikTok coming in fourth, based on active user data.”

Twitter Shares New Data on Rising Discussion of the NFL Ahead of the Season Kick-Off [Infographic] - Link. Twitter has shared a new overview of NFL discussion, and the latest trends that are driving more football-related tweets.

Meta’s ‘Widely Viewed Content Report’ Once Again Shows That Users are Engaging with a Lot of Spam in the App - Link. Facebook’s ‘Widely Viewed Content Report’ shows the websites, publishers, and specific links that saw the most reach across Facebook in Q2 2022.

Big Media Has Joined TikTok - sharing highlights and fan-favorite scenes as TikToks on their channels - Link. HBO in particular has been pushing Game of Thrones clips on the back of their House of the Dragon release. Lionsgate has also jumped in on this trend.

?? Content Creator Updates:

YouTube’s Testing a New ‘Promotions’ Tab in YouTube Studio to Make it Easier to Promote YouTube Content - Link. YouTube’s looking to make it easier for people to run YouTube channels and content promotions with the addition of a new ‘Promotions’ tab in YouTube Studio, which would alleviate the need for users to run their YouTube ad campaigns via Google Ads Manager instead.

Snapchat Launches New ‘Dual’ Camera Option, Similar to BeReal - Link. With BeReal on the rise - more social media platforms continue to emulate it.

The new feature is very similar to BeReal, and Instagram’s new Dual/Candid options. However, Snap is looking to push the functionality beyond situational selfies, and more towards participatory, creative trends.

?? Other Engaging Posts of the Week:

Real Money, Fake Musicians: Inside a Million-Dollar Instagram Verification Scheme - Link. A jeweler. A plastic surgeon. An OnlyFans Model. They and others received a blue check in likely the biggest Instagram verification scheme revealed to date. After ProPublica started asking questions, Meta removed badges from over 300 accounts.

Decade of the Battery - Link. A retrospective on tech & predictions regarding the technology will define the next era of innovation.

Serena Williams’ next act in venture capital is essential at this moment - Link. She announced her retirement in the latest issue of Vogue magazine, writing that she will be “evolving” away from the sport to focus on family and her career as a venture capitalist. Williams founded her own firm, Serena Ventures, in 2014 and raised a $111 million inaugural fund this year to invest in “founders with diverse points of view,” she previously told The New York Times.