Newsletter: March 5, 2021

Social Media Headlines

• TikTok has moved from being perceived as a potentially risky, experimental platform to one of the mainstream players. (Digiday)
• Social audio is having a moment via platforms including Clubhouse, Twitter Spaces, Discord and Fireside. (Social Media Examiner)
• It took a minute, but brands are now in the Clubhouse app (Digiday)
• Twitter’s new “Super Follow” will let you charge for tweets, and journalists are drooling (NiemanLab)
• Facebook News grows as a referral source for publishers (Digiday)
• Why incumbent brands prefer reels over TikTok (Modern Retail)
• Facebook lifts its ban on political, electoral and social issue ads, instituted to “avoid confusion or abuse” around the 2020 election. (Axios)
• Netflix adds a TikTok-like feed to its mobile app to showcase content (Variety)
• Why Clubhouse is a great tool for journalists (IJNet)
• YouTube launched a PG version for parents of kids who have outgrown YouTube Kids programming but are still not old enough for unrestricted YouTube viewing (Variety)

Research & Reports

Podcast: Snapchat surprises and alternative social media platforms challenging the giants (eMarketer)

Don’t sleep on Pinterest; its popularity now rivals TikTok and Snapchat. (Search Engine Journal)

Tubular Labs’ social video winners of 2020 report includes these takeaways:

• Watch time on social video increased 56% for US audiences
• Influencers commanded the most watch time (121 billion monthly minutes), followed by broadcast media companies with 37 billion*
• The highest performing categories among broadcast media companies were entertainment (47%) news and politics (19%) and kids entertainment and animation (18%)
• Viewers aged 45+ increased their watch time the most, almost doubling the amount of social video they watch. (Tubular Labs)

*Note that broadcast media companies outperformed digital-first media companies, with 27 billion monthly minutes viewed.

Best Practices

Facebook provides tips on how to maximize paid online events (Social Media Today)

Thread: Use alt text to improve accessibility of social media content (@regmack_)

YouTube launches biweekly “Shorts Report” for Creators (Search Engine Journal)

TikTok content strategy for businesses (Social Media Examiner)

Steal This Idea

• How the Washington Post’s new Instagram editor will try to boost its subscription business (Digiday)
• More student journalists on using TikTok: ‘There’s nothing to lose and so much to gain.’ (Poynter)
• In collaboration with NASA, National Geographic debuted an augmented reality experience on the @NatGeo Instagram account. (Good Morning America)
• Using comedy and social media to educate on disinformation (Internews)

GBH Highlights

• Inside @GBHArchives, the surprise Twitter account that transports Boston sports fans back in time (The Ringer $)
• Follow this AMA today from the NOVA team, with two neuroscientists who just published a study on two-way communication with lucid dreamers. (r/AskScience)
• GBH News is turning to social media to shape its coverage as we approach the one-year anniversary of COVID lockdown in Massachusetts. (@GBHNews)

Platform Updates