Happy Friday of the Victoria Day/May 24 long weekend. Hope you’re leaving work early, but before you shut down your computer, make sure you read the Weekly Download.
This week, TikTok wants to create a “culture of credit,” Instagram is hosting a cool shopping pop-up in NYC, Facebook’s algorithm is still easy to game, and more — plus some Friday fun!
Instagram Tests New “Following” Tab
If you read our newsletter a couple weeks ago, you may have seen a comment that Instagram Reels are looking more and more like TikTok.
TikTok added “Following” and “For You” tabs so users can customize their experience on the app. Now Instagram is doing something similar, with users in India seeing a new “Following” tab alongside the current Reels feed.
As with TikTok, the ultimate goal is increased engagement, which would be good for marketers on the platforms.
Instagram to Host a Physical Pop-Up Store in NYC
If you’re heading to New York this long weekend and love Instagram, then this is a must-see. The platform is hosting a pop-up retail store to celebrate the third anniversary of its @shop account.
Fans will be able to browse and buy some of the most popular products available in the @shop listings. A lot of the products will be from minority-owned businesses.
This isn’t the first pop-up Instagram has done. There have been other events in Germany and the UK. What Instagram has found is that people love browsing and will travel to a convenient location to physically interact with goods and products.
The pop-up will be at Chelsea Triangle this Friday and Saturday. If you can’t make it, you can shop the products in the Instagram Shop tab under “Editors’ picks.”
Twitter Launches “Super Follower–Only” Spaces
If you’re an avid Twitter user and are looking to grow your community, Twitter has something new: subscriber-only, Super Follower–only Spaces. The goal is to give creators a new way to offer conversations with their supporters with live audio. Think more engagement for those who use it and also another opportunity for monetization.
Right now it’s for certain creators who offer subscriptions.
Facebook’s Algorithm Questioned Over “Widely Viewed” Content
It seems that Facebook’s algorithm is still easy to manipulate, which may be of interest to marketers.
Meta released its latest “widely viewed content report,” which outlines the most-viewed posts on Facebook. Once again, it was found that what Facebook termed “low-quality” posts still dominated nearly half of the top 20 most popular links on the platform. These posts got millions and millions of views.
Spam, basically.
While the links and posts were removed, this report has left people wondering just how good the Facebook algorithm is at identifying and removing spam and mis- and disinformation content from its platform.
Meta says it’s changing how content is evaluated as “most viewed,” but critics say that still won’t address the issue of how easy it is to game the algorithm.
TikTok Aims to Foster a “Culture of Credit”
We’re big fans of giving credit where credit is due, and TikTok agrees. The company says it wants to foster a “culture of credit,” so it’s offering a new way to credit videos that start viral trends.
Users will now be able to tag individual creators in their video descriptions as well as in specific videos.
This “culture of credit” is a result of complaints from users who said their content was taken and profited off of: Last summer, several Black dance creators found their dances going viral. Unfortunately, they didn’t reap the rewards, but white TikTok-ers like Addison Rae ended up on talk shows like Jimmy Kimmel to showcase said dances without giving credit to the original creators. As a result, the original Black creators went on strike.
Friday Fun
One last to-do before you head out for the long weekend:
@thehuskyfam Like if you find her.. No spoilers in comments 🤫 #dogsoftiktok #perfect #husky #petsoftiktok
