What's Trending - July 2020
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Welcome to the What’s Trending blog! Every month, we scour the internet for the most exciting social trends, platform updates and consumer insights so you don’t need to. So grab a coffee (or a vanilla oat milk latte, or whatever), take a break and find out what’s trending this month.
Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3... 🎤
- Instagram is testing out a range of new features including a new “shop” tab in the bottom function bar, making it easier to spend all your money without ever leaving your bed. The tab will replace the current “Activity” button and take you to the existing shopping page in app, with more purchase options expected to roll out in the future.
- A new stories feed that displays all stories in a full-screen format is also being tested. Some users will start seeing a “See all stories” button which will display all stories on a full screen. Instagram’s efforts to shift focus from the traditional in-feed posting to a Stories feed is a strategy to keep up with TikTok’s video clips. Watch out Addison Rae.
- Read more: Instagram Full Screen Stories, Shopping Tab Updates
Category is: Stuff no one asked for 🙅
- It’s just what everyone wanted, more mid-video YouTube ads! The video sharing platform has announced they will update their current monetization policy to allow mid-roll ads on videos that are 8 minutes long, compared to their previous 10 minute videos.
- Since February, YouTube has seen its advertising rates drop by nearly 50%, with one in four advertisers pausing their content across channels at the beginning of 2020.
- While content creators will have the option to switch the mid-video ads off, they can also choose to adjust the placement of the ads if they prefer to keep them on.
- Read more: YouTube updates its monetization policy
Don't forget to like, retweet, and...subscribe? 👍
- After Twitter shared a job posting for a full-stack software engineer to join a new team called Gryphon included “building a subscription platform” in the description, users have begun speculating that you will soon have to pay for tweets.
- You’re probably wondering, “who the heck is Gryphon?” According to the job posting, Gryphon is a team of web engineers who work closely with Twitter’s Payments and Subscriptions team. How mysterious!
- While paying to read celebrities and politicians tweets sounds like a horrible idea, the speculation of a subscription-based platform lead to a 12% rise in Twitter shares. I know where I’ll be investing my next paycheck.
- Read more: Twitter’s paid subscription
Other Bites 🍴
- TikTok is putting FBI agents to work by expanding their targeted ad capabilities. The social video app will allow advertisers to target users based on more specific demographics, including gender, location, device, age, language and interest.
- In the spirit of bringing people together, Spotify will begin offering Spotify Premium Duo, a new subscription plan for people who live together. So, if you like listening to TikTok dance tunes, but your partner prefers to study to classical music, you can both listen for $12.99 a month!
- Tech companies continue to find ways to track your every move, and this time it’s disguised as a wearable air conditioner! Just strap this creepy Sony device to your back and it claims to cool your body temperature by up to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Are you buying it?
- Want to never leave your house again? Uber has launched a grocery delivery business within their Uber and Uber Eats apps. The new model is now available in Toronto, and Montreal, and will launch in the U.S. later this month.