Welcome to Part II of Edition No. 21 of my weekly newsletter, providing practical analysis in the world of digital content strategy.
ICYMI Tuesday: An Unlikely Google Search Competitor + Fix Your GA4 scroll Event
Contents
I. INSTAGRAM ‘VIDEOS’ ARE GOING AWAY
II. FCC COMMISSIONER WANTS TIKTOK BANNED IN U.S.
III. GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 FILTERS EXPLAINED
IV. GOOGLE UPDATES ‘RICH RESULTS’ PROHIBITED ITEMS
V. FACEBOOK GROUPS GET A MAKEOVER
VI. SNAPCHAT+ IS HERE, AND YOU STILL CAN’T TURN OFF ADS
VII. TIKTOK TESTING SHOP-ONLY FEED
VIII. TWITTER ‘NOTES’ UPDATES
IX. TWEETDECK FOR MAC IS DEAD
X. ‘HASHTAG PAY ME’ FIGHTS FOR FAIR CREATOR PAY
I. INSTAGRAM ‘VIDEOS’ ARE GOING AWAY
Instead, Meta has begun a test where you can only upload Reels, and not regular videos.
Yes, Reels are also videos, so…
🛠 Why does this matter? Up until now, Instagram had a separate feed for Reels.
Any non-Reels (including regular videos) you uploaded would only be shown in your friends’ feeds. That is, people who follow you.
Reels, on the other hand, can be suggested to anyone.
When this is rolled out to all users (surely it will be), your Reels could show up in anyone's feed, not just your friends'.
Before this change, other users could still come to your profile and see your videos, or find them through search. But that might give you a handful more views.
This change, on the other hand, means any one of your videos could go viral. (For better or for worse.)
This is clearly a play to get even more content into Reels, which Meta using to fight back against TikTok.
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II. FCC COMMISSIONER WANTS TIKTOK BANNED IN U.S.
No, you’re not having déjà vu.
TikTok is once again under scrutiny for violating user privacy in China.
🛠 Why does this matter? From a personal perspective, it depends how much you care about protecting your data. And if you’re on TikTok, you probably don’t care.
Hey! I’m not taking shots. I’m on TikTok. But this isn’t new.
Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning new downloads of the app right before leaving office. Joe Biden quickly overturned the ban.
If we know our data is being handled carelessly and potentially threatens national security, why is the app still available in the U.S.? One word: It starts with M and rhymes with honey.
Banning TikTok right before leaving office was a safe move for Trump. All the pompous of America First without the consequences of having to enforce the ban. And who can blame Joe Biden for not wanting to deal with it, either?
TikTok is the fastest-growing app in the world, and it’s a goldmine for brands to connect with younger audiences, and creators with fans.
Perhaps there are changes on the horizon, but I don’t think TikTok is going away. (Though I’m sure no one at Meta would mind if it did.)
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III. GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 FILTERS EXPLAINED
Google Analytics 4 traffic filters aren’t nearly as useful as they are in Universal Analytics.
In fact, they’re almost useless.
But you should be familiar with how they work, and the pitfalls of enabling them if you want to use DebugView.
🛠 Why does this matter? Filtering out unwanted traffic makes for cleaner reports. It also ensures that what you and your team do on your website doesn’t distort your statistics.
This is especially important if you have a large staff that spends hours a day on your site.
While we can only filter GA4 data by IP address and app developer traffic, I’m optimistic that Google will add more options.
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