PLANOLY Social Sphere: Week of August 10, 2020

August 14 2020 | News , Social Media

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In this week’s Social Sphere, the plot thickens. The plot exactly? TikTok’s future in the U.S. But of course some other things happened too. Let’s unpack it in this week’s Social Sphere!

TikTok still might get banned but Microsoft could save it with its potential app acquisition. Instagram releases its highly anticipated feature, ‘Reels.’ Youtube faces a hack just as Twitter’s hackers were found and charged. Doomscrolling can lead to mental health effects and might be getting worse during this global pandemic. A student suspended for posting a picture of students not wearing masks at a Georgia, high school. Can meme culture kick trump out of office?

Alright, let’s go!

In the News

Pinterest Makes Major Product Updates to Better Represent All Their Users

As more people use Pinterest for shopping, Pinterest updates their skin tone ranges and adds an AR lipstick feature to help users discover products that represent themselves. In their press release, they stated, “We’re committed to diversifying the content on Pinterest and these newest improvements will create better signals for more inclusive algorithmic recommendations for the future.” Pinterest already sees an improvement in skin tone detection and their users’ likelihood to purchase what they tried on using the virtual lipstick filter.

Can Twitter or Microsoft Save TikTok?

The pressure to save TikTok is on. American Companies like Microsoft and Twitter have taken an interest in purchasing TikTok from its parent company ByteDance. This is a natural next step for Twitter since they owned Vine and Vine was essentially TikTok before TikTok. However, there are only 35 days left before the potential ban could happen, so hopefully, one of these companies can settle with TikTok before it’s too late.

Instagram Debuts Its New Feature ‘Reels’

Instagram recently rolled out its TikTok-like feature “Reels’, and with a potential U.S. TikTok ban in the works, it couldn't have come at a more convenient time. This isn’t the first time Instagram has challenged a major social platform. Previously they challenged Snapchat with their Stories feature, which proved to be a success. It’s too early to tell how Reels will do, but with a ban in the works, popular TikTok creators might be flocking to Instagram to save their short-form video careers.

Twitter Hackers Found and Charged

Three people were found and charged for the Twitter Bitcoin Hack that occurred in early July. All three of the individuals responsible were under the age of twenty-two. The individual who carried out the scam allegedly posed as a Twitter employee to access Twitter’s internal systems.

YouTube Faces the Same Issue as Twitter With Bitcoin Hackers

Like Twitter, YouTube was victim to yet another Bitcoin scam. This time they hacked prominent YouTube channels live streams like SpaceX and Elon Musk. Viewers who tuned into these channels live streams were redirected to Bitcoin giveaway pages. There is no evidence that the hackers got into YouTube’s internal systems. This incident only adds to the argument that these popular social platforms need to have more reliable security tactics.

Social media plays a key role in most teen’s lives. A Georgia high school student was suspended for exposing her high school’s minimal COVID-19 precautions on Twitter. She Tweeted the picture to express her safety concern for herself and her peers. The school said the suspension was because she violated their guidelines about posting school images to social media. The student and her mother are happy to report that her school lifted her suspension and can go back to school.

Meme Culture Continues to Shape the Election

Memes are a form of communication for many Gen Z and Millennial users and they’ve been especially helpful during this year’s 2020 election. Their appeal to younger generations has led to meme campaigns helping ramp up presidential campaigns like former candidates Bernie Sanders and Michael Bloomberg. A meme collective, Meme 2020, started a new campaign and just in time for the November election. Their mission is to challenge President Trump’s false claims about mail-in ballots leading to a rigged collection and get everyone instead out and voting even if they can only do it by mail.

Doomscrolling Fatiguing Our Health and Wellness

What is doomscrolling? Well, it’s exactly as it sounds, and it’s only increased since the pandemic. Each day and night starts and ends the same: mindlessly scrolling through social media for answers without acknowledging the anxiety that comes from it. And with a world seeming in complete disarray, it is only wearing more on our mental health. This doomscrolling used to be unique to Sunday nights in bed reading spoilers for your favorite TV shows, but since we are now all stuck at home, all we have is our devices and a lot more time to dive deep into the news.

The internet is a powerful place! Here are past updates from the social media world!