TikTok launches TikTok For Business
TikTok has announced that it is officially introducing a new brand platform called TikTok For Business, which will serve as the home for all its current and future marketing solutions for brands. The site will include access to TikTok ad formats – including its marque product, TopView – along with a new e-learning centre aimed at helping marketers learn about TikTok and its ad offerings.
Instagram expands Shopping to more businesses
Instagram has said that it’s opening Instagram Shopping up to more businesses, including creators who want to sell their own merchandise. As part of the expansion, Instagram has introduced some new ‘Commerce Eligibility Requirements’, outlining a set of guidelines that interested businesses must adhere to in order to sell on the platform. These requirements will go into effect on July 9th in all the markets where Instagram Shopping is supported.
Facebook responds to #StopHateForProfit campaign
Last week, Ben & Jerry’s joined the likes of Patagonia, REI and The North Face in their public boycott of Facebook, as part of a collective #StopHateForProfit campaign. In response, Mark Zuckerberg attended a client council meeting with brands including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Nestlé and Unilever, during which he is reported to have acknowledged advertisers’ concerns and insisted that Facebook is reviewing its policies and decision-making processes.
TikTok kicks off #MyPride celebrations
TikTok kicked off its week-long Pride celebrations last week, and named its 2020 LGBTQ+ TikTok Trailblazers – a list of 25 up-and-coming creators using its platform to make a positive impact on the LGBTQ+ community. As part of the celebrations, the platform announced that it will be donating $3 million to several LGBTQ+ organisations and, along with a number of other activations, host #MyPride – a virtual event on June 25th, which was due to see over 500 LGBTQ+ creators join online sessions, panels and digital celebrations. However, the platform was forced to abruptly call off its event when uninvited intruders flooded the Zoom event with hateful comments.
Today’s #MyPride event was meant to be a celebration of our community & of authenticity, self-love, & inclusivity. Unfortunately, some bad actors – who were not invited to the Zoom event – interrupted the start of the celebratory event with extremely hurtful, harmful comments.
Brazil suspends WhatsApp’s payments service
Less than a week after WhatsApp launched its new payment service in Brazil, the country’s central bank has moved to suspend the service. The bank has even gone so far as to request that Mastercard and Visa, among the payments partners for WhatsApp in Brazil, suspend money transfer on the app. In a statement, the central bank suggested that it hadn’t had the opportunity to analyse WhatsApp’s payment service prior to its rollout.
Facebook kills off its cheapest VR headset
Just two years after it first launched, Facebook has announced that it’s discontinuing the Oculus Go. Alongside the announcement of the Go’s discontinuation, Oculus also shared that it’s working on a way to open up the app’s ecosystem to give developers an easier path toward distributing apps.
Chipotle hosts Pride “Lunch & Listen’ on TikTok
On Friday (June 26th), Chipotle teamed up with activist and television personality, Karamo to host a ‘Lunch & Listen’ session on its official TikTok channel. Karamo was joined by TikTok creators Isabella Avila, Eva Gutowski and Collins O. to share their experiences as prominent voices in the LGBTQ+ community. Chipotle said it would donate $1 for every viewer, up to $50,000, to the Center for Black Equity.
Social media users share more and show off less during Covid-19
A new piece of research, conducted by us in partnership with GlobalWebIndex, has found that – as a result of lockdown and the global pandemic – less than a quarter (23%) of social media users still feel the need to post content that portrays a more “polished” version of their life. Nearly half (46%) of males also said that they have been more open on their public social channels about the struggles they are facing, compared with just under a third (31%) of women. Check out the full write-up in Campaign magazine for more info.
