PLANOLY Social Sphere: Week of November 2, 2020

November 06 2020 | News , Social Media

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It’s the end of the week! Thank goodness! But before we go back to refreshing election coverage, let’s take a break to learn about the latest pop culture and social media updates in this week’s Social Sphere.

For starters, Facebook introduces dark mode for mobile and ramps up its efforts to stop the spread of misinformation. Spotify starts testing its newest feature said to improve artist discoverability. TikTok is back in the news with another judge blocking its U.S. ban, and LA’s favorite grocery store has become the official COVID-19 destination of choice. Lastly, the creative group behind a slew of popular Instagram accounts rolls out resources to relieve election anxiety.

It all starts now!

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In the News

Facebook Introduces Dark Mode

After months of testing and users asking for it, Facebook finally rolled out its long-awaited dark mode option for mobile. Facebook already offers the dark mode feature for its other apps, including Messenger, Facebook Lite, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Facebook initially started testing it back in March and then again in June, but now dark mode will be widely available for FB users to try out. Perhaps to make doom scrolling more enjoyable?

New Spotify Feature

Spotify prides itself on introducing new music and artists to users with their algorithm or “signals”- as they like to call it. To make their personalized recommendations, Spotify considers various factors like the time of day, songs users are saving, and adding to playlists, etc. And to better help artists connect with listeners, Spotify is starting to use artist input to prioritize which songs get discovered first and when. Artist priority will be added to Spotify’s signals to improve artist visibility and discoverability when making personalized recommendations and listening sessions for users. This new feature won’t cost anything upfront, just a lowered promotional recording royalty rate.

Facebook Prepares Emergency Measures Post Election

To prepare for election unrest online, Facebook prepares to rollout potential internal tools to slow the spread of misinformation. Executives stated this plan would only go into effect if election-related violence were to occur. The measures include “slowing the spread of viral content and lowering the bar for suppressing potentially inflammatory posts,” as well as “tweaking the news feed to change what types of content users see.” The threat of post-election violence is far from fake news. With recent reports of groups plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Facebook has decided to take unprecedented steps to slow the spread of misinformation and the organization of violent movements on its platform.

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Just when we thought there wasn’t any positivity left to end this exhausting election week, Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, shares a heartwarming video with her niece. The now-viral video features Senator Harris and her niece having a conversation about how she could be the United States president, but not until the girl is 35. The video shows the significance of Harris being the first woman Vice President–as well as the first Black and South-Asian-American VP–if both Harris and Joe Biden win the 2020 Presidential Election.

Group of TikTok Creators Get Judge to Block TikTok Ban

A group of popular TikTok creators issued a new lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s potential TikTok ban. The creators with million-plus followers argued that they’d lose their followers and professional opportunities brought to them by TikTok read: their source of income. This isn’t the first time a judge has moved to block the ban. Just last month, a D.C. judge blocked the ban that would have removed TikTok from U.S. app stores. Interim TikTok CEO Vanessa Pappas said in a statement, “We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support from our creators, who have worked to protect their rights to expression, their careers, and to help small businesses, particularly during the pandemic.”

LA's Hottest Grocery Store

The high-priced and uber organic grocery store, Erewhon, has become a celeb-filled haven in sunny Los Angeles. Stars like Cara Delevigne, Jake Gyllenhaal, Demi Lovato, and Hilary Duff fill the aisles of the trendy Goop-endorsed grocery store. And now, with LA shut down and the entertainment industry on pause, LA's “elite” and spotlight hungry dwellers are flocking to Erewhon for a sense of normalcy and fresh-pressed juices full of supplements to keep them healthy. Erewhon has become a cultural phenomenon, even parodied in Netflix’s show You as the store Anavrin where Penn Badgley falls in love with his latest flame, Love.

Overheard Helps Ease Election Anxiety

Earlier this week, the group behind Instagram accounts, Overheard New York and Overheard LA, offered resources to followers struggling to stay calm during the election. Their services included a zoom meditation hour and then a series of “elevated stimulus packages” throughout the week. To opt into these elevated stimulus packages, all followers had to do was text “calm me the f**k down” to (917) 905-7071, and then Overheard would link subscribers to resources.

Hopefully, that wasn’t too much to overwhelm you with this week. Remember to take a break from social media this weekend and we will see you back later with another edition of PLANOLY’s Social Sphere.