YouTube to rival TikTok with short-bite feature ‘Shorts’?
YouTube is looking to ride the coattails of TikTok’s recent success by launching its own video-bite feature in 2020. It’s fair to say YouTube is getting a little greedy taking names in 2020. Despite sitting atop the podium of biggest video platforms (and second in the most visited site), pipping Twitch to...
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The unstoppable rise of video calling apps in COVID-19 lockdown
Video calling platforms have gone from professional obligation to recreational pastime during the Covid-19 lockdown. Trying to muster positives in a time of global crisis is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Businesses are going belly up every day that the lockdown persists, with most global stock markets down...
Instagram is bringing ‘Selfie Stickers’ to Stories
If your Instagram stories weren’t zhushy enough already, the social meccas are now testing a feature dubbed Selfie Stickers. With social media platforms reporting peaks in user engagement throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, now seems the perfect time to introduce and test new features. Instagram are doing just that. Over 500 million users were already viewing...
How do TikTok creators make money?
Everyone knows that Instagram influencers earn a ton of money through sponsorships and agencies, and it seems TikTok is following along a similar path. Making original, funny content and getting paid to do so is probably the dream job for anyone under the age of 25. Ever since YouTube became an...
Facebook ramps up moderation team amidst Covid-19 mental health crisis
Facebook is gearing up for an increase in anxious and depressed users, as the world is forced to hunker down into self-isolation. This week has certainly been an unusual one, to say the very least. As most of Europe and the US begin working from home on mass due to the...
The top five social media trends of 2020
As we move into a crucial decade for social responsibility, it’s likely that we’ll see more online branding emphasise green initiatives and sustainable business practices. Likes and follower counts are set to become less important too. It’s no secret that social media usage changes year to year. As new...
How TikTok finally broke the mainstream
No longer just the cringy content hub for lip syncing videos, TikTok has finally been embraced by celebrities, YouTubers, and the masses alike, but how did we get here? As a twenty-something who grew up with Snapchat, Instagram, and the trash heap that is the Facebook news feed, I was admittedly slow to catch onto the hype that surrounds TikTok. At first it seemed like a platform dedicated solely to the...
Popular Gen Z shopping app Dote ghosts brands, influencers, and users
Dote, a shopping app once praised for being ‘Gen Z’s dream mall,’ is ghosting its brands, influencers, and users as it quietly tries to fall off the radar. Remember last year’s Dote scandal when the app was seriously criticised for discriminating against people of colour both on social media and at organised events? Somehow – after a great deal of damage control – the Gen Z-targeted shopping app managed to...
Facebook tests cross-posting stories to Instagram
Some users can now share stories from Facebook on Instagram, as Zuckerberg’s tech titan tests out new merging features. Let’s be honest, who uses Facebook stories? Aside from dodgy advertisements and small announcements from bands and artists, very few of us ever post anything personal on them. This is not the case with Instagram, however, which sees 500 million people use its stories feature every single day. My timeline is...
Facebook adds new 3D feature for any image
The new option allows depth to be simulated on any static image, so you no longer need a fancy high-end camera to light up your posts. If you’ve ever seen a 3D post from your friends on Facebook and felt an uncontrollable surge of envy, then fret no longer. Starting from this week you won’t need a top-of-the-range smart phone to create photos with interactive depth. Facebook has just introduced...
