There's Nothing To Like About Meta's Latest Experiments
+ Another country sticks up for the news industry
Welcome to Part II of Edition No. 70 of my weekly newsletter, providing practical analysis in the world of digital content strategy.
Friday Five
I. Another Country Requires Google, Meta To Pay Publishers
II. This Instagram Test App Looks Just Like TikTok
III. Meta Tests Cross-Posting To Threads (Dang it)
IV. Need-To-Know Changes Coming To LinkedIn
V. YouTube Adds Revenue Performance by Format to Analytics
VI. Other Important Updates
I. Another Country Requires Google, Meta To Pay Publishers
“Indonesia has introduced a new presidential decree that will require digital platforms like Meta and Google to pay news publishers in exchange for distributing their content. The new law will go into effect six months after yesterday’s signing by outgoing president Joko Widodo (Jokowi).”
Canada implemented a similar law last year.
Google agreed to pay publishers $73 million per year.
Meta, refusing to pay, pulled all news content from the country.
Before Canada, Australia also passed a law requiring Google and Meta to pay for news on their respective platforms.
Google agreed to pay up here, too.
Meta initially refused to pay, but later struck a deal.
🛠 Why does this matter?
There’s been talk of similar laws in the U.S. and U.K.
Australia, Canada and Indonesia may not have quite the power of America and the British. Even without the latter two implementing laws (so far), global momentum appears to be picking up.
That is, the pressure on Google and Meta to spread the wealth is mounting.
News outlets invest millions of dollars (and countless hours) producing content that appears in Meta’s Facebook feed and on Google’s search results.
These platforms can then serve ads alongside the content – often in the format of a snippet or preview, as opposed to the full content itself – stuffing their pockets without journalists seeing any of the money.
It is true that Meta and Google have invested millions – either directly or indirectly – into the news industry. They have also created products that make it easier for users to consume news on their platforms.
What these laws could do, though, is give news outlets revenue upon which they can rely, as opposed to hoping for generosity.
Journalists had better relationships in the past with tech giants than they do now. That would have been the time to strike a deal while the terms were still friendly. Now governments are stepping in on behalf of the news industry, and the terms may be far less favorable than Meta and Google had hoped.
Perhaps that will force them to pull the plug on allowing news on their platform altogether. But would that really be to their benefit?
And who defines what “news” is these days anyway? While it may be clear to a journalist – you’ll know it when you see it – the rest of the world seems to be less able every day to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to online content.
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II. Meta Tests Cross-Posting To Threads (Dang it)
From @whimchic on Threads:
In anyone at Meta sees this: Please don’t.
🛠 Why does this matter?
Meta on its last earnings call shared healthy Threads user growth.
But those 130 million MAUs pale in comparison to the 3 billion-plus on Facebook.
If you did the math, you know that Threads has about 4.3 percent of the number of active users as Facebook.
Even though Facebook is essentially available worldwide and Threads recently became available in more than 100 countries, there’s still plenty of growth potential by comparison.
Will the baby boomers and spam factories catch on to Threads? (I hope not.)
The crossposting option, however, is a great way for Threads to boost active-user numbers on paper without those users even having to open Threads itself.
This feels a bit like using a company credit card to pay your salary. It may work in the short-term, but it’s not sustainable. (And perhaps not responsible.)
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III. This Instagram Test App Looks Just Like TikTok
Speaking of Meta experiments…
“Instagram is testing an app called App Clip. Basically, you can only watch; you can't comment or like.”
-X
“We’re always working on ways to improve the Instagram Reels experience, and are now testing a way for people who might not be on the app yet to preview Reels,” an Instagram spokesperson told The Information.
🛠 Why does this matter?
If you click through to the X post and look at the first comment, there’s a video showing what it looks like:
While it may be just in testing, Instagram clearly isn’t content with simply pushing Reels into our feeds as a way to compete with TikTok.
This would be very similar to the Threads strategy Instagram deployed.
It created its own version of X (formerly Twitter) and made registration extremely easy – you only needed to log in with your Instagram account.
But directly taking on a wounded platform like X is far different than going toe-to-toe with a robust, growing one like TikTok.
If this goes live, expect a similar UX to make it easier for existing Instagram users to create accounts – and bring followers with them – onto the new app.
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IV. Changes Coming To LinkedIn Creator Mode
Creator mode is a profile setting that can help you grow your reach and influence on LinkedIn. You can turn on creator mode to get access to additional tools and features that help you create content and grow your audience base on LinkedIn.
Creator mode isn’t new but some of the changes coming are.
Expected This Month
Existing Feature: You can display the topics you post about in the About section of your profile as hashtags.
Change: Profile hashtags/topics will be removed.
Expected in March
Existing Feature: The toggle to turn creator mode on and off in the Resources section of your profile.
Change: The creator mode on/off toggle will be removed
Existing Feature: The Connect button on your profile will change to Follow. We'll display the number of followers you have in your profile introduction.
Change: You will have the option to choose the Follow or Connect button as the primary action on your profile. Your primary action will remain Follow unless you update it.
Existing Feature: We'll highlight your original content on your profile by moving your profile to drive traffic to your website, content, upcoming event, etc.
Change: Your About section will move to the top of your profile so that people can easily grasp your professional story.
🛠 Why does this matter?
Polish up that About section. It’s moving to the top of your profile.
By “top” I’m guessing this means right below the section with the photo? I can’t imagine it going to the very top.
In general, creator mode is a great way to unlock new tools if you want to up your LinkedIn influence and reach.
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V. YouTube Adds Revenue Performance by Format to Analytics
YouTube creators are now able to see how much money their earning on their videos per each of the three formats: Live, Video on Demand (VOD) and Shorts.
🛠 Why does this matter?
“The goal is to help creators optimize their monetization strategy based on their past success,” the above-linked video says.
If you rely on YouTube as a revenue source, this not only gives you better insights into which content is bringing you the most money, but also your most successful formats.
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VI. Other Important Updates
Also, X Pro: $168/year or $16/month:
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