Instagram Expands Its Account Status Update So Creators Are Aware If Their Content Is Eligible

Instagram is on a mission to provide its creators with a mean by which they can determine transparency through new updates on the dashboard for Account Status.

This would assist in indicating which content is eligible and would then be recommended through different systems. Similarly, it would provide some key points on how to fix some issues regarding this front.

As can be witnessed through such examples, Instagram plans on incorporating new elements to users’ Account Status that directly shows content that can be recommended to others on the app.

In case there is some issue, it would be the one notifying this aspect regarding anything posted through the creator’s account. In case a creator notices a yellow-colored alert across account status, you’re given the chance to click on that to figure out more.

This would put a wide array of posts on display that are going to be in violation of the app’s rules and regulations while providing an explainer in case some posts are violating the app’s policies.

Another overview of this entire mechanism was provided by the platform’s CEO Adam Mosseri who sent in a video message through the platform’s headquarters in London.

Without any doubt, this is a huge step that’s going to be showing plenty of transparency on the app’s process and put rumors to rest related to shadowbans that might be a huge help for people in search of making the most of their opportunities through such platforms. It just makes one more aware of why they can’t be eligible for things like recommendations and also go on to provide a better justification as to why their reach is dropping.

It also makes more sense when people complain about not being able to see updates so you can always double-check through this feature, making sure everything is in a place like usual.

In case things are in place, then the problem would lie simply in your own content and yes that’s another issue but at least you’ll have that personal satisfaction that nothing is technical.

As mentioned in the past, these features are entailed in Instagram’s dashboard for Account Status. It was first released in the month of October and since then, we’ve seen it rolling out to different users around the year.

The platform says users should have access to this option and that would entail a list of different indicators that highlight violations of content while making sure impacts are reached.

Any creator looking to confirm their suspicions regarding shadowbans or any form of restrictions related to reaching different violations needs to do so. The app is very straightforward in approach in this regard and gives users the insight they require to assist in rectifying such matters.

It’s actually very interesting to see where Instagram is going with this because more transparency during crucial times like today can always help creators feel more secure.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

A Big News: Users Now Can Purchase The Updated Lenses Of Snapchat By Snap Tokens

Snapchat revealed that it is testing the idea with a specific set of AR producers and developers, to integrate digital products plus Lenses, which can be bought through Snap Tokens.

The news was announced at Snap’s annual Lens Fest program that, in conjunction with a group of several AR experts, it is looking forward to introducing certain Lenses alongside which users would be able to access advanced tools, and augmented reality goods, as a result of this effort.

Some questions seem to arise related to the acquisition of this feature. The gain from this is quite simple. All Snapchat users have to do is buy the initially released 2020 Snap Tokens by pressing their profile icon and navigating to My Snap Tokens. It depends on the users to choose the right package of tokens considering the number of tokens and their feasible budget. Additionally, tokens may also be exchanged for either specializing in Bitmoji items or sending gifts to the artists. Users will enjoy the fruits of this new trial by using their tokens to access digital products inside a Lens.

As users may now begin spending tokens to update the Lens, the users have requested ways to advance one of the well-liked Potato Lens created by Phillip Walton. Now, they can change the potato into several characters, including a cat, a magician, and a cop.

Sophia Dominguez, who oversees the app’s attempts to build worldwide AR dominance, said in an interview that the platform is concentrating on utilizing 3 factors of AR for its first rollout, namely play, fashion, and self-expression. The platform searched for three to five developers for each category before narrowing the field to a few.

Dominguez further described that users may update lenses and give them a variety of new features with digital items. She also said that Snap is seeing these digital products as potential additional revenue streams for producers and creators in making Lenses for companies and customers. Moreover, the company is initially interested in acknowledging the reviews from its dear consumers.

Snapchat anticipated strategies for monetizing tokens and recently announced a collaboration with Adidas to introduce brand-new, limited-edition Bitmoji stylish items to attract and encourage users to come forward and benefit from this feature as soon as possible.

In short, the trial marks a fresh method for Snapchat to integrate tokens into more areas of the app to increase revenue.

Read next: Snapchat team seems to be testing Story Boost Feature for Snapchat+ users
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

The EU Just Restricted Meta’s Personalized Ads, Will the Company Survive?

Facebook’s entire business model was based on serving personalized ads, but in spite of the fact that this is the case a confluence of recent events have brought the social media giant to its knees. Its parent company Meta is now being hit with a new set of regulations that will prevent it from forcing users to consent to third party tracking and personalized ads if they want to use its platforms.

The EU is famous for its privacy regulations, and this latest bill could be a death knell for the struggling company. Meta has already suffered a reported loss of $10 billon due to Apple’s recent updates which toggled third party tracking off by default. This new regulation could make matters even worse than might have been the case otherwise.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that these restrictions are not automatically going to apply to Meta. They will be sent to the regulatory board in Ireland where Meta’s operations are headquartered, and if the decision is upheld it could spell real trouble for Meta considering all of the other factors at play.

Most users are wary of being tracked because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up infringing on their privacy. In spite of the fact that this is the case, Meta has managed to continue using third party tracking through various means. The EU is now clamping down on this, and it will be interesting to see how Meta reacts.

The social media company can’t afford to lose the hundreds of millions of users it has in the EU, but it also might not be willing to service an area that has suddenly become unprofitable. Meta has threatened to pull out of the EU in the past, though these comments were met with disdain by EU officials. The fallout from this new restriction could have wider implications for the advertising economy, and it will force Meta to act quickly and make some big changes lest it collapses.

H/T: WSJ / TC

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by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Google Recommends JS Heavy Sites to Load Content First

Sites that are heavy on JavaScript (JS) would do well to pay attention to Google’s recent announcement, because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping their sites get better SEO scores than might have been the case otherwise. Gary Ilyes, an executive at Google, recently spoke out about a flurry of complaint emails he had received from SEO professionals who reported seeing fake sites in the SERP.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that he highlighted the extended loading times of these sites as a particularly serious issue. He also recommended that sites that are heavy on JS should make sure that the content loads first, and that includes marginal boiler plate content which currently loads dead last.

Many of the pages that he spoke about managed to only load the boilerplate content, and that can make it harder to spot duplicate sites. Sites that are getting reported as dups can easily change things by making the content load first, and that might give them a higher SEO score as well as getting a better reception from site visitors with all things having been considered and taken into account.

Ilyes’s recent threads on Mastodon and LinkedIn showed that Google is not going to allow sites to get ranked easily. They are going to make sites work for their rankings, and the user will always be the winner when they are given such high levels of preference.

Google is constantly changing up their algorithm, but oftentimes sites can get better results by focusing on fundamentals. Faster loading times are well known for boosting SEO, and sites that have struggled to boost their rankings in the past might want to give this a try since it can streamline the loading process and help users and visitors to see the important content first.

Extended loading times make it very likely that a user might click away. That can destroy a site’s rankings on the SERP and make it hard to recover them later on.

Read next: Google Introduces Continuous Desktop Scrolling For Search Results In The US
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

YouTube Rolls Out Massive Updates for Shorts

The rise of TikTok has forced companies like YouTube to up their game and change their strategy, and perhaps most pervasive change is the increased emphasis on short form content with all things having been considered and taken into account. YouTube is constantly trying to tweak its Shorts section because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up drawing more users to it as well as attracting content creators who are the lifeblood of their entire platform.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that YouTube is bringing some heavy duty new features and upgrades that can take Shorts to a new level. The first update will make it easier for Shorts creators to select a thumbnail than might have been the case otherwise, since it will enable them to just select a frame from the video in question.

YouTube is also publishing a new series of videos that can dispel some misconceptions surrounding Shorts content. Creators who have questions about how the algorithm works or really anything else in that vein can go to the YouTube Creators channel to get all of their desired answers.

An even bigger update that many are going to be talking about is the launch of automated overdubbing. Creators are targeting users in many different countries, but in spite of the fact that this is the case a lot of these users may not speak their language and that can limit their reach. The new project called Aloud can provide a voiceover in a different language for a video that was initially made in English, and it is yet another excellent creation from YouTube’s Area 120 research and experiments team.

All of these changes are likely going to bring a lot of attention to YouTube shorts. While many creators have flocked to Shorts, TikTok still reigns supreme on that front. These updates are quite revolutionary, especially the automated overdubbing. It might create a much more globalized content community and help creators to cross borders and appeal to a wider swathe of viewers.

Read next: YouTube has updated its advertiser-friendly guidelines, here's what creators should know
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Snapchat team seems to be testing Story Boost Feature for Snapchat+ users

Everybody loves to picture their moments and share them with the world through popular social media platforms, Snapchat which is one of the popular social media platforms with over 363 million active users has recently released its exclusive subscription which is known as Snapchat+.

To facilitate Snapchat+ users, the team tends to be working on a new feature called Story Boost.

This specific feature would be giving Snapchat+ users an advantage over non-exclusive subscribers by boosting their social media engagement in terms of views. Moreover, the users utilizing this feature would remain anonymous, in other words, it’s impossible to tell if any specific account is using the story boosting feature.

Let’s talk a bit about how this feature tends to bring more value to Snapchat+ users. Your story would be given priority among non-exclusive subscribers and would be more visible to random people to increase your social engagement.

It’s interesting to see how Snapchat is putting its remarkable efforts to bring more content to Snapchat+ and attract people to consume exclusive content.

Right now, this feature is under testing and could take more time to finally arrive on the application, thus we should lower our expectations as a Snapchat team has announced that they are constantly working on this new feature and in these initial stages they were seen refusing to share any news related to the new feature.

Turns out, the audience will have to wait a while to finally test and enjoy this new feature as it looks kind of too far from being implemented any time soon.

But it would be really interesting to see what type of efforts the Snapchat team will do to attract its users to buy a premium subscription.

Read next: The World’s Biggest Social Media and Messaging Apps Visualized
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

New Features Of Status Updates And View-Once Message Privacy By WhatsApp

After blessing with the incredible features of making polls and creating communities, WhatsApp is now headed towards calling out the new features of status updates inside the chat list plus the roll out of a new presentation sheet to view once messages is also on the cards.

WhatsApp follows a ritual of not disappointing its user and always amazes them by introducing super fun features through updates. As I have mentioned the upcoming options above, I must explain more about them and their functions.

Let’s discuss the first feature of WhatsApp beta for the Android update, in which the users will be able to view status updates directly from the conversation list. The process seems to be very easy. Rather than checking users who uploaded a status in the status area of WhatsApp, look at the ring that will appear around the profile picture in the conversation list to determine whether the function is accessible for your account.

Following the installation of the most recent WhatsApp Desktop version, this is finally reaching out to even more people. Many users now have the option to see status updates inside the chat list, and thus more consumers will also have it over the next several weeks.

The name of the second feature is the presentation sheet for view-once messages. The current status of this feature is rolling out. You must be curious about this new feature like what it is for. This feature provides screenshot protection for view-once photos and videos. Which means, this feature has made it impossible for the receiver to screenshot the messages for future reading or sharing them with others.

A question arises: how does it work? The answer is, as users press the view-once button located in the drawing editor, the presentation page containing view-once messages will appear. WhatsApp will notify you whether this function is turned on so that the receiver cannot obtain a snapshot of it. In short, sharing, forwarding, copying, and saving the view-once picture and clip are all disallowed.

The feature is now accessible for beta users having the WhatsApp beta for the Android 2.22.22.3 version, however, the social media platform is now unveiling a new presentation page to showcase these enhancements to certain beta testers. This functionality was previously offered to non-beta clients as well.

I am sure both these features will make room in the hearts of users and WhatsApp will continue to excite these valuable users in the future for sure.

Read next: WhatsApp Has Rolled Out A New Feature For WhatsApp Beta For iOS, While A New Feature for Desktop App Is Under Development
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World