Welcome to Part II of Edition No. 62 of my weekly newsletter, providing practical analysis in the world of digital content strategy.
Friday Five
I. X (Twitter) May Cease To Exist as Elon Blames Advertisers
II. Google’s Update That Could Greatly Affect Your Email Lists
III. TikTok's New Strategy: Encouraging Longer Videos
IV. Threads are Coming to Europe…with a Twist
V. Embed Standalone Videos, Broadcasts from X
VI. Other Important Updates
I. X (Twitter) May Cease To Exist as Elon Blames Advertisers
“Go f*** yourself.” -Elon Musk to advertisers who are leaving the platform.
Andrew Sorkin was interviewing him at the NY Times’ Dealbook Summit.
Musk admitted that if advertisers stay away from X, it will have to shut down, and that the advertisers would be to blame. Sorkin retorted that the advertisers would blame Musk.
“Let’s see how Earth responds to that.” -Musk’s response to the idea of him getting the blame.
The advertiser exodus comes on the heels of Musk’s recent antisemitic reply on X and the subsequent boycott.
Musk displayed a combination of remorse and defiance on stage, and said the media didn’t cover his subsequent replies where he explained his original comment.
Here’s a video from the aforementioned part of the interview.
🛠 Why does this matter?
When Musk bought X, there was a glimmer of hope that this free-wheeling, filthy rich entrepreneur could get the platform back to its glory days, if not better.
That glimmer is all but extinguished now. (There were plenty of people who expected this outcome from the moment he took over.)
There is a fractured group of Twitter-like platforms that have stepped up in an attempt to fill the microblogging platform’s void – Mastodon, Threads, BluSky – though none has truly risen to the top as the place to have witty, real-time conversations.
That’s a loss for content creators, both from a distribution and conversation perspective.
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II. Google’s Update That Could Greatly Affect Your Email Lists
Google is set to delete email accounts inactive for more than two years.
Security concerns drive this decision, as inactive accounts often lack robust security measures like two-factor authentication.
🛠 Why does this matter?
Google's decision challenges marketers and newsletter writers to focus on the quality and engagement of their email lists rather than size. This change is not just about cleaning up inactive accounts; it's a push toward more secure, authentic and strategically driven email marketing practices.
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III. TikTok's New Strategy: Encouraging Longer Videos
TikTok is urging creators to produce videos that are more than a minute long. This shift is part of its strategy to improve monetization avenues for creators and to position itself as a competitor to long-form video platforms like YouTube.
🛠 Why does this matter?
This change aims to provide TikTok creators with better monetization options, which is crucial as the platform seeks to retain its top talent.
For marketers and content creators, this adjustment suggests a need to rethink TikTok strategies, potentially focusing on longer, narrative-driven videos.
Longer videos on TikTok could lead to more immersive storytelling and deeper engagement with audiences.
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IV. Threads are Coming to Europe…with a Twist
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to launch its microblogging service, Threads, in Europe this month (December).
This expansion is Threads' largest since its debut in July and reflects Meta's commitment to competing in the microblogging space, rivaling X (formerly Twitter).
The European Union's stringent online service regulations have led Meta to offer EU users a unique version of Threads, allowing consumption without the ability to post.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, announced that Threads users can now delete their Threads accounts independently of their Instagram accounts.
The expansion into Europe is seen as a strategic move by Meta, following controversies and advertiser pullback from X, and could potentially add around 40 million monthly users to Threads' base.
-WSJ
🛠 Why does this matter?
Meta's decision to launch Threads in Europe signifies a major step in the company's strategy to solidify its position in the microblogging market. This move not only expands Threads' global reach but also demonstrates Meta's willingness to adapt to the stringent EU regulatory environment.
The timing of this expansion is crucial. It comes when X is experiencing ongoing challenges with advertisers and public relations (see above). This presents an opportunity for Meta to capitalize on the situation and attract a broader user base to Threads. The potential addition of approximately 40 million users in Europe is a significant boost, indicating the growing influence and reach of Threads in the global social media landscape.
The growth of Threads in the European market will be a crucial test of its long-term viability.
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V. Embed Standalone Videos, Broadcasts from X
Views on embeds will count toward overall view count
🛠 Why does this matter?
You still can’t embed links on a lot of platforms the way you could in the past. (Like this one – Substack – which is why I screenshotted the tweet above instead of embedding it.)
This is a nice, clean way to embed video from Twitter without the visual busy-ness of the tweet surrounding it. I would still prefer the option to embed tweets anywhere I want, though.
Not that this will matter if Musk succeeds in burning down the platform.
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VI. Other Important Updates
Upcoming deprecation of Crawl Rate Limiter Tool in Search Console
Microsoft joins OpenAI’s board with Sam Altman officially back as CEO
Keyword Search is Available on Threads
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Any other important updates this week? Let me know in the comments.
I self-edit this newsletter, so please don’t be shy about emailing me if you spot a mistake.
See you next week for a practical tip and an in-depth analysis in the world of digital content strategy.