X Plans to Launch a Feature for Publishing Long Articles

Elon Musk is working on turning X into a go-to place for news, challenging traditional media outlets. He believes X can offer truth directly from the public, despite skepticism from many about this claim. To support more detailed updates, X has already made it possible to write longer posts. Soon, users will get to publish full-length articles right on X. This new feature is in the testing phase and might get its own special section in the app.

This update, called "X articles," will allow users to write and share their own blog-like posts. Each article will have a custom link in the X feed, showing a picture, a headline, and a short summary. This approach is quite similar to the old link preview format on Twitter, which Musk removed but then brought back due to its practicality.

Screenshots: Digital Information World

Like Facebook's "Instant Articles," these X articles will load quickly and look appealing because they are built to fit within the app. However, Facebook stopped using Instant Articles as they didn't align with how people used the app anymore.

Despite this, X is reintroducing several features that seem familiar, like live-streaming and video calls. Musk hopes that adding the ability to publish articles directly on X will attract more creators to the platform. This might even come with a way for creators to earn money, though the details are still not clear.

Musk, who supports the Republican party, aims to use X to highlight important political topics, especially with the U.S. election coming up. He hopes that by enabling users to publish articles on these topics, X will become a significant tool for sharing political viewpoints.

The launch date for this feature is not announced yet, but it's expected to come out soon. It could offer a new space for those interested in Tesla, Republican viewpoints, or political theories to share and read articles. It also promises new possibilities for content creators looking for more ways to reach audiences and possibly make money.

Read next: YouGov: 82% Oppose Brain Chip Implants, 10% Undecided, 2% Willing for Testing, 5% Open Within Year
by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Reservations About Google’s Third-Party Cookie Depreciation Gives Amazon Edge With Mega Ad Data Deal

In case you didn’t know, the CMA in the UK has expressed plenty of reservations about Google’s Privacy Sandbox.

This means saying hello to a less-than-likely chance of it getting rid of third-party cookies but what might appear like a loss for Google is a gain for the likes of Amazon who has just managed to strike a massive Ad Data Deal.

The company reached a historic deal with one of the United Kingdom’s biggest publishers of all time. This means saying hello to access to data belonging to customers linked to targeted ads.

The agreement was one of the first of its type taking place in the EU region and it arrives in regards to the firm’s plans to depreciate cookies belonging to third parties during the latter part of the year.

The reason why the news is making headlines has to do with the fact that we’ve got plenty of advertisers trying to search for better options that go beyond the likes of cookies for targeting purposes that arise in the form of ads.

So such a deal can serve as the best form of competition and as alternatives for clients seen online that are deemed to be high value.

So how does such an agreement work? Well, this type of deal would enable the Reach firm to enter a contextual first-party data agreement with Amazon where data regarding articles that people adore are on display.

The data would be used by Amazon to better target advertising across various UK publisher websites and give advertisers a lot of chances to carry out effective advertising around the globe.

For now, plenty of financial details are hidden and not being disclosed online, keeping brand safety at the top of the list. The company Reach says it hopes to make the most of it and ensure the advertising tool is in place so that publishers can benefit. This would make sure ads are displayed right next to content that users engage in regularly and love.

The collaboration assists Amazon in targeting a specific type of audience that deals with publications from Reach like OK and Mirror, as well as Daily Star.

Third-party cookies might not seem like a big deal but they are. They’re the names allotted to tiny data pieces placed across users’ devices by a certain webpage that’s different from what a user might have landed on. It would track browsing history and enable personalized ads, depending on what the activity of the user might be.

So what does tech giant Amazon have to say on this front? For starters, the Ads director for the EU explained how ad tech sales keep on informing how shifts in the industry must be accounted for. This is true for those places where cookies are not up for grabs and therefore are critical in terms of creating actionable insights that allow advertisers to attain the right audience and not compromise upon reach.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

Read next: 41% of Marketers Say AI is Less Creative Than Them
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Influencer Marketing Report for 2024 Reveals Marketers' Confidence in Its Efficacy Despite Budget Constraints

Aspire's new report on influencer marketing shows some interesting trends for 2024. After looking at data and surveys from over 700 marketers and creators, here's what stands out.

Most marketers, about 69%, plan to spend more on influencer marketing despite budget challenges. This shows they believe in the power of influencers to promote their brands.

Instagram remains a top choice for brands, with 90% planning to boost their activity there. However, TikTok is catching up, especially among creators. About 89% of creators say they'll focus more on TikTok than Instagram.

YouTube creators are seeing a lot of engagement, with an average rate of 49.5%. This is much higher than other platforms, proving that longer videos still have a big audience.

Surprisingly, 93% of creators are okay with working just for free products if they like the brand enough. But it's also important for brands to pay creators fairly for their work to maintain a good reputation.

Nano-influencers, or those with a smaller following, get the highest engagement rates, averaging 4.39%. This shows that even people with fewer followers can have a big impact.

Because of this, 64% of brands are choosing to work with smaller creators. They value realness over the number of followers.

• Also read: Generative AI Showdown: Google's Bard, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing Chat, and Claude AI Face Off

Over the last year, 57% of creators haven't changed their rates. This stability is interesting given how influencer marketing is growing.

Marketers find that content made by influencers does better than other types of brand content. About 63% say it's more effective at engaging audiences.

Lastly, video content is becoming more important. A whopping 94% of brands plan to focus more on making videos, seeing the success of platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

Read next:

70% of SMBs Repurpose Content, Here's Why

80% of Consumers Prefer Free Services, Apps And Digital Content, Willing to Share Data for Ad-Based Access

by Mahrukh Shahid via Digital Information World

Kids' Online Habits: Roblox and TikTok Lead, Generative AI Apps Gain Traction - Qustodio Report

Social media trends are always evolving and now with the use of VR, AR, and other AI technologies, users are finding different ways to engage with each other online. Surely, these new trends of online engagements are going to impact the next generation of young consumers. A report by Qustodio shows how the young generation of people are engaging themselves in new trends on different social media platforms. The report is based on a survey of 40,000 US families with kids ages between 4 to 18 years.

The report outlines the social media platforms where kids spend their time. It was revealed that kids are spending an average of 2 hours daily playing Roblox, a popular online game. Kids are also spending another 2 hours on average of their day on TikTok. However, in 2023, TikTok remained the most-blocked social media app for its influence on mental health and security concerns. Parents worldwide restrict access due to its controversial challenges, marking its second consecutive year as the top-blocked app.

Data from 2022 showed that kids from ages 4 to 18 spent an average of 107 minutes but now those minutes have increased to 112 minutes average per day in 2023. These stats have made TikTok the most famous social media app among the younger generation. Instagram is the next popular app after TikTok, followed by Facebook and then Pinterest.

Snapchat is also one of the most popular apps among young people but it is under the category of “Communications”. If it was under the category of “social media apps”, it would have been the second most popular social media app after TikTok. The report also shows that the younger generation is also interested in using generative AI apps. 20% of the kids in the survey used ChatGPT in 2023, which makes it the 18th most visited website in 2023.

The report also sheds light on how parents are using different parental control tools to supervise their kids’ activities. Many parents are using parental controls in different gaming and educational apps to monitor their children's activities. You can read the whole report to see comprehensively how kids are engaging on social media sites.

Read next: Survey: 80% of Consumers Prefer Free Services, Apps And Digital Content, Willing to Share Data for Ad-Based Access
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Cyberattacks Are Getting More Creative, Here's What You Need to Know

Charles Harry, an associate professor and director of the University of Maryland's Center for Governance of Technology and Systems, not to mention the former cyberwarfare expert for the NSA, has stated that cyberattacks are becoming a lot more complex. As a result of the fact that this is the case, they might come from places that you weren't expecting, which would make them a great deal more harmful than might have been the case otherwise.

According to Harry, these are the five least suspected places that a cyberattack could end up originating from:

LinkedIn

In the age of self promotion, LinkedIn has become a breeding ground for malicious actors that want to get you to click on some type of a link. They might pose as recruiters because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making your more likely to fill out a form, but if you were to try to upload your resume, your system would get infected by malware.

Your favorite website

Browsing popular websites is a great way to pass the time, but you should steer clear of any tempting ads that you end up seeing while you’re there. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that clicking on these ads might make you fall prey to something called malvertising, so it’s best to avoid interacting with them.

Flash drives

It’s quite common to get handed a free flash drive at a convention of some sort. It bears mentioning that these drives can contain malware, which is why you should never use hardware that you got from an untrustworthy source.

Personal printers

Owning a printer can be useful, but on the off chance that you get a notification asking you to download an update, you should never ignore it. These notifications are sent by the company whenever there is a security threat, although you should make sure that the source is legitimate.

People you know

You’d never expect a loved one to scam you, which is exactly what makes deepfakes and voice cloning so dangerous. In a nutshell, a malicious actor might pose as someone you know to ask for money, or to get you to give up your account details or password.

• Also read: Habits You Must Develop to Adapt to the Needs of Modern Workplace

Image: Digital Information World - AIgen

Read next: Survey: 80% of Consumers Prefer Free Services, Apps And Digital Content, Willing to Share Data for Ad-Based Access
by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

Survey: 80% of Consumers Prefer Free Services, Apps And Digital Content, Willing to Share Data for Ad-Based Access

According to a survey by IAB with 1,500 consumers, it was revealed that many consumers are completely okay with using social media services with ads by exchanging their personal data with the sites. Consumers know that if they want to access the ad- based websites or apps for free, they need to exchange their personal data one way or another. The survey also shed light on advertisements, consumers’ stance on ad-free content and their preferences about sharing data to get free access to different sites.

80% of consumers in the survey said that they believe that social media and the internet should be free to all people. This is because people share their thoughts and views about different things on social media and paid social sites will stop them from freely sharing their opinions. Another reason is that not everyone can afford paid services on social media and it would be hard for them to pay for different websites and apps. Three in four consumers know that if they share their data with different websites, it helps them to personalize ads and 70% said that they have no problem with sharing their data with the websites as long as the website or app is free.

Internet, website, and app usage highly valued by consumers. IAB study reveals they'd seek $37,619 annually without free access. IAB survey shows how much the digital marketing sector has to compensate per year to users for not using the internet, social websites and apps. Gen-Z wants the highest compensation amount with $54,169 per year, followed by millennials with $40,343 compensation amount. Gen-X and Boomers demanded the least compensation amount with $36,932 and $29,407 respectively. If a user wants to use a website or app after paying for it, he will have to pay $164 on average.

Fourth-fifth of the consumers in the survey do believe that a free website means that they will have to see advertisements but Gen-Z don’t believe so. Gen-Z believes that websites are free for other reasons like basic rights or free speech. Overall, the study finds that consumers are more inclined to watch or see ads, than pay to browse ad-free.

Read next: Generative AI Showdown: Google's Bard, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing Chat, and Claude AI Face Off
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

New Survey of Business Executives by Fortune Shows that Elon Musk is the Most Overrated CEO in America

Elon Musk is probably the most popular CEO in America right now but it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have many haters. Fortune conducted a survey of hundreds of business executives in America and the results showed that Elon Musk is the most overrated CEO in America. Fortune hasn’t said anything about the exact number of people surveyed but the questions in the survey are public. Fortune asked these business executives to name the most underrated and most overrated CEO. Surprisingly, Elon Musk was also declared the most overrated CEO in America last year. This year, he received 399 votes and became the most overrated CEO once again. The second most overrated CEO was Disney’s Bob Iger who received 302 votes.

Elon Musk is always busy being the CEO to different companies including electric vehicle, Tesla, and rocket company known as SpaceX. Last year, he also bought Twitter and renamed it X. Elon Musk is greatly congratulated on starting electric vehicle and commercial space companies but on the other hand, he was also criticized for making extremely ambitious decisions. He is continuously postponing sending humans to Mars through SpaceX. In 2017, he said that he will send the first human to Mars in 2024. Then in 2021, he postponed it to 2026. Now, he is saying that humans will probably reach Mars in 2029. This shows that Elon Musk doesn’t have a proper timeline about when he will send a human to Mars. These kinds of empty promises have made people think of him as an overrated CEO who only knows how to talk but never takes any actions to fulfill his promises. Representatives of Musk have not commented about this survey yet.

Photo: Photo by Trevor Cokley / U.S. Air Force Academy / Dvidshub

Read next: Creator Economy Boom: $480 Billion by 2027, but Why Are Most Creators Still Struggling?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World