This Week in Social Media, June 22, 2020

TikTokers rallied against Trump in Tulsa. Audio tweets are a thing now. Facebook dives deeper into the political arena. MoonPie is making me hungry. And TikTok's algorithm is demystified.

Here are some quick hits to kick off your week.

Fast 5

1. [News] TikTok users and K-Pop fans rallied to sabotage Trump this past weekend by reserving tickets to his rally and not showing up.
2. [Platform Update] Twitter is rolling out audio tweets on iOS. Audio tweets will be limited to 140 seconds. If you go over the limit, a second threaded tweet would be automatically generated.
3. [News] Facebook finally took a stance against Trump and removed his campaign ads that featured an inverted red triangle, which resembled a Nazi symbol. Facebook cited its policy against organized hate.
4. [Platform Update] Facebook is launching a Voting Information Center with resources to help voters during the election. It will also allow users to turn off political ads on Facebook and Instagram.
5. [News] Instagram is primed to overtake Twitter as a news source. Meanwhile, social media platforms are among the least-trusted sources.

I Wish I Made This

A post that demonstrates personality is great. A post that demonstrates personality and features some kind of interactive element to attract and maintain a user's attention is even better. Here's a simple idea from MoonPie that generated some good engagement and didn't require complex design skills.

Parting Shot

(Demystifying TikTok Edition)

TikTok has long been a mystery to social media marketers. As the platform has been expanding its footprint and making attempts to be taken more seriously (with its new CEO, education initiative, and more)—offering more than its typical hashtag challenges and dance videos—TikTok is offering insights into how its For You feed is curated. Read up on how the platform's algorithm takes various user signals to determine which videos will appear in your feed, including your engagements, the accounts you follow, completion rate, and much more.

As you continue to use TikTok, the system takes into account your changing tastes and interests, even noting when you decide to follow new accounts or explore hashtags, sounds, effects and trending topics on its Discover tab.

That's it for today. See you next week...