Threads Tests New Option That Allows Users To Select What Feed They Want As Default When Opening App

If you’re not a huge fan of the way your feed looks on the Threads app then you might want to read on further.

The platform is currently testing a new option that enables users to select how their feed will appear as default when they open it up. The news was first confirmed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg who mentioned there will be the option to select Following, For Your, or any other customized variant for feeds that users come up with.

Zuckerberg's post explained that Threads is currently in the experimental phase with this feature. He also shared how it will help make feeds more visible on the Threads platform.

It’s an offering that’s been a long time coming as many users have been requesting it since the start. So while it might have taken the company a year to finalize its plans, we can certainly expect it to benefit many soon.

For now, the test is just limited to a limited audience but an expansion on this front is expected soon. If you’d like to select your feed to default, simply log into the app and hold any of the feed options located at the top of the page. After that, select ‘Edit Feeds’ and this is where you can reorder them again.

The feed placed at the top or first position will be selected as default and pop up whenever you open the platform again. The news comes at a time when a growing amount of competition from rival app Bluesky is on the rise. This has led to executives buckling up and making changes to stop audience members from flocking away and instead signing up for Threads.

We’ve already heard about some more improvements in the works like an improved For You Algorithm so that users actually see more accounts that they follow and content they’re interested in. Other than that, the search feature is also said to be another exciting and useful endeavor, and let’s not forget about the new landscape video offering.

So far so good and if Threads manages to keep up the good work and make its users happy, we can expect more success in the next couple of months.

Read next: TikTok Dominates Short-Form Video Trends, Influencing Purchases Among Gen-Z, Report Shows
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

TikTok Dominates Short-Form Video Trends, Influencing Purchases Among Gen-Z, Report Shows

Adobe published a new report which talks about trends in short-form videos, including preferences and purchasing patterns. According to the report, TikTok is the top short-form video platform in countries including the US, Philippines, Brazil and Indonesia. Despite talks about TikTok being banned in the US, it is still the top platform when it comes to short-form videos. Even though TikTok operates as Douyin in China, the top search among the platforms in China was still TikTok.

The most engagements on TikTok are from Gen-Z (58%). The second most used short-form video platform by Gen-Z is Instagram (24%). Gen-Z use TikTok for an average 86 minutes daily, which makes about 10 hours per week. 65% of the surveyed people in America engage with multiple short-form video content throughout the day, with Gen-Z (83%) consuming short-form video content the most among them.

There are different types of short-form content users enjoy watching, with comedy (50%) being the top content. 44% enjoy watching entertainment content like movie clips or trailers. 42% also enjoy watching content based on animals and pets, while 36% love watching lifestyle and vlogging content. People enjoy watching content on TikTok because it's always diverse with a blend of humor, education and entertainment.

• Also read: How Global Social Media Users Spend Time: Instagram Reigns, Afternoon Posting Peaks

Short-form video content also influences the users’ purchasing decisions. 3 out of 8 respondents said that they have made a purchase based on the content they watched, with women (41%) more likely to do it than men (30%). TikTok is again the top platform to influence the shopping decisions of users. Gen-Z (90%) are the most likely to get impulsed to buy something after watching the content. The top products people bought after watching the content were clothing (38%), skin care (30%) and makeup (27%).

There is also a big diversification of platforms across different generations. Where most Gen-Z prefer platforms like TikTok and Instagram, millennials are more likely to use Instagram and Facebook. On the other hand, Baby Boomers are likely to watch short-form video content on YouTube.

Take a look at the chart below for more insights:

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

SMBs Prioritize SEO, Customer Experience, and Budget Management in 2025 Website Strategies

According to a new survey by Duda, most small and midsize businesses (SMBs) said that search visibility is the top website improvement they’ll focus on in the coming year.

The survey was based on 300 small and midsize business owners from the US and Europe. 31% of the respondents said that they want to increase their search visibility on search engines next year. 30.4% of the SMBs want to improve their lead generation in the next year. The third improvement SMBs want to make in 2025 is increasing their brand awareness.

The survey also asked SMB owners what are their top three priorities when it comes to enhancing customer experience on their business websites. Respondents said that their top three priorities to improve customer experience are social sharing (22.1%), advanced support (20.7%) and personalized recommendations (20.1%). Other responses included better search (19.4%), security enhancement (18.7%) and customer reviews (18.4%).

SMB owners also said that lead generation (37.8%) is the top way their business website contributes to their business. Other top two ways by which their business website contributes to their business are providing information about their products and services (37.1%) and selling services online (36.1%). SMBs owners also maximize the performance of their business website by the top three ways: Training and Implementation (42.8%), Content Creation and Management (42.5%) and Limited Budget (38.5%).

Read next: US Dominates AI Ecosystem: Investments, Models, and Research Lead Global Rankings
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Bots are Growing in Numbers and this Could Change the Traffic on Open Web

If bots grow on the web, it can change the online human experience on the web. Different reports show that almost 50% of the internet traffic doesn't come from humans. Nowadays Agentic bots are growing in numbers. They can open the doors for separate APIs or websites and could bring changes in the marketing playing field.

65% of bots on the web are malicious, but good bots are also growing in numbers and are the only ones useful. AI crawlers are also growing by 18% while search engines have slowed down by 10%. The activity of GoogleBot was majorly reduced. On the other hand, there was a 1.4% increase in Google’s AI crawler and the most activity was recorded by GPT Bot with 3.8% increase.

Google’s AI crawler saw a growth of 62% and estimates show that it will become the most active bot on the web. Right now, AI bots are collecting data, building search indexes for LLM answers and collecting real-time data for prompts. Currently all the big AI developers are working on agents that browse the web and take actions for users like Google’s Jarvis, Claude and OpenAI.

The outcome of these AI agents can be growth in bots traffic on the web, using APIs to get information and operating on their platforms. Due to the mix of all this, bot traffic on the web is going to increase a lot. ChatGPT search is already working as an AI agent and will shift focus on users to focus on agents.

Even though bots are taking over the web, it is impossible that humans will stop browsing on the web. Humans still need to verify AI statements so they go to different platforms to seek answers. In 2023, 70% of the world's population has access to the internet and looking at the current pace of internet connectivity, the whole world will be able to access the internet by 2030. Despite this widespread internet access, human traffic on the web is decreasing from the past three years. This is mostly due to humans shifting to social media platforms.

So, if good bots will increase on the web, what does it mean for SEO and marketing? Bots or AI agents can do everything for you according to your preferences. The skill that will remain constant in the future will be SEO, especially technical SEO. Open web with agents will also provide better offers of ad targeting because they’ll know what humans need and prefer.

Web design may not be that important in the future but feed design will become more important. As agents will make all the advertising choices for customers in the future, marketers will need to spend more time on relationship building and campaigns that can influence customers.

H/T: Kevin Indig

Read next: US Dominates AI Ecosystem: Investments, Models, and Research Lead Global Rankings
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

US Dominates AI Ecosystem: Investments, Models, and Research Lead Global Rankings

According to a new study by Stanford University, the US is the global leader of AI currently, with China being far behind. This seems right too because when we hear AI, the first word that comes to our mind is ChatGPT, which was launched in the US by OpenAI in 2022. ChatGPT pretty much started the globalization of AI and made it a significant tech in other nations. According to Global Vibrancy Tool 2024, the USA is the country which has released the most AI models, it has invested the most in AI and is working the most to do as much research on AI as possible.

Other countries like South Korea, UAE, UK, India and France also have a long way to go to compete with the US in terms of AI ecosystems.

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According to Stanford’s AI Index research team most of the countries haven't provided clear data about where they stand in AI, so it's hard to pinpoint their exact stats. Global Vibrancy Tool ranked countries according to their research, economic activity and infrastructure related to AI. It found that even though China is leading in AI patents, the US is still the top choice for AI related investments. The US saw an increase of 22.1% in private investments for AI while the investments in other countries have declined since 2022. China tops the US with investments in only facial recognition, and the US is trying to dominate it too. The US also produced more machine learning tools than China. On the other hand, the UK and EU have seen an increase in new AI companies while China is seeing some decline.

• You might like: Which Countries Have The Best and Worst Work-Life Balance?

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Which Countries Have The Best and Worst Work-Life Balance?

For a lot of people around the world, getting a balance between work and home life can be difficult. For many, their careers and day-to-day job is something they’ve spent years working towards, spending time, effort and money studying in a certain field or years gaining the right experience. However, with an ever-changing working world and burnout impacting so many workers, which nations around the world are the best at balancing hard work with decent downtime?

A new study by financial experts Remitly surveyed over 4,200 international workers to understand where in the world the best quality of life for workers is. Asking respondents from 22 countries about how long their average day is, how long they spend on work breaks, how long they spend commuting to and from work and how satisfied they are in their jobs, the research reveals which nations work the most and where in the world you can find the best work-life balance.

Which countries have the best work-life balance?

Rank	Country	Average working day	Average commute time	Time asleep on an average working day	Time spent on breaks per average working day	Overall work-life balance score (out of 100)
1	Finland	7 hours 44 minutes	41 minutes	6 hours 47 minutes	52	73
2	Denmark	7 hours 25 minutes	42 minutes	6 hours 52 minutes	41	70
3	Switzerland	8 hours 13 minutes	53 minutes	7 hours 7 minutes	56	65
4	France	7 hours 38 minutes	55 minutes	6 hours 53 minutes	51	62
5	New Zealand	7 hours 53 minutes	43 minutes	6 hours 45 minutes	46	60
6	Sweden	7 hours 59 minutes	46 minutes	6 hours 41 minutes	50	57
7	Netherlands	7 hours 54 minutes	49 minutes	6 hours 50 minutes	45	56
8	Portugal	7 hours 52 minutes	55 minutes	6 hours 43 minutes	53	54
9	Belgium	7 hours 56 minutes	43 minutes	7 hours 4 minutes	52	54
10	Czech Republic	8 hours 2 minutes	45 minutes	6 hours 46 minutes	45	54
11	Austria	8 hours 0 minutes	41 minutes	6 hours 43 minutes	40	53
12	Germany	7 hours 55 minutes	47 minutes	6 hours 47 minutes	41	52
13	Spain	7 hours 43 minutes	44 minutes	6 hours 43 minutes	35	52
14	Italy	7 hours 53 minutes	48 minutes	6 hours 37 minutes	45	51
15	Canada	7 hours 52 minutes	48 minutes	6 hours 38 minutes	41	47
16	Brazil	8 hours 14 minutes	57 minutes	6 hours 37 minutes	60	47
17	United Kingdom	7 hours 59 minutes	48 minutes	6 hours 43 minutes	41	47
18	Hungary	8 hours 2 minutes	53 minutes	6 hours 37 minutes	41	38
19	United States	8 hours 29 minutes	40 minutes	6 hours 31 minutes	39	36
20	Ireland	8 hours 13 minutes	59 minutes	6 hours 44 minutes	44	35
21	Norway	8 hours 1 hour	48 minutes	6 hours 22 minutes	38	33
22	Australia	8 hours 13 minutes	59 minutes	6 hours 44 minutes	42	32

Topping the list is Finland, scoring 73 in the study out of a possible 100. The European country provides workers with a healthy balance between employment and family or personal life. Employees in the country work just above the OECD average of seven hours and 12 minutes - clocking in just 32 minutes more a day on average (seven hours and 44 minutes). People living in Finland also have one of the shorter commutes, with workers spending just 41 minutes a day getting to and from the office or their place of work.

• Also read: Tech Jobs Seen as Best for Family Balance, Survey Finds 17% Prefer Their Flexibility

In second place is Denmark, scoring 70 in the study. Switzerland follows in third, with 65/100. Whilst Swiss workers might spend more time on average working throughout the day (eight hours and 13 minutes), they do get some of the best night’s sleep throughout the week and spend a higher amount of time taking regular breaks throughout the working day - helping them to feel more rested and refreshed.

Other countries in the top five are France and New Zealand, scoring 62 and 60, respectively in the study. Nine of the top 10 countries where workers feel like they have the best of both worlds are found in Europe.

The top 10 best places in the world for work-life balance (score out of 100)

1. Finland (73/100)

2. Denmark (70/100)

3. Switzerland (65/100)

4. France (62/100)

5. New Zealand (60/100)

6. Sweden (57/100)

7. Netherlands (56/100)

8. Portugal (54/100)

9. Belgium (54/100)

10. Czech Republic (54/100)

On the other end of the study are the countries with the weakest work-life balance, where workers find themselves working the longest hours, enduring the longest commutes, getting the least amount of sleep during the week or taking the lowest number of breaks throughout the day. These factors combined can leave workers feeling like they spend all their waking days working or travelling to and from work, with little to no downtime to recover.

The top five countries in the world with the worst work-life balance (score out of 100)

1. Australia (32/100)

2. Norway (33/100)

3. Ireland (35/100)

4. United States of America (36/100)

5. Hungary (38/100)

Australia was crowned the country with the weakest balance overall, scoring 32 out of a possible 100 in the study. Whilst Australian employees might enjoy a good quality of life, with lots of outdoor activities and a healthy lifestyle, workers put in some long hours on average, working over eight hours a day and spending lots of time on lengthy commutes of just under one hour a day. The USA ranks fourth as one of the worst nations for work-life balance, scoring just 36 out of 100 in the study, just ahead of Hungary, which scores 38 out of 100.

What does work-life balance look like in the USA?

The research reveals that workers in the US struggle to find the balance between working hard and relaxing. Not only do workers in the US spend longer than average working across the week, they also take some of the lowest numbers of regular breaks and report getting one of the lowest durations of sleep per night on average - meaning they’re likely to feel more tired throughout the week.

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Regarding working hours, the study revealed that the USA has the longest working day, with the average worker clocking in at eight hours and 29 minutes. The OECD average is seven hours and 12 minutes a day, meaning American workers work around 10% more than workers in other countries. Whether they’re working from home, logging on a bit earlier, staying late at the office, or taking fewer breaks, there are a few ways workers in the US might find themselves working longer days. While an hour or two more each day might not feel like much, accumulated over time, the average worker could be working over 260 more hours per year than people in other countries - that’s more than 32 more working days across the year.

As part of the study, workers were asked how long their average commute was, and America came out on top as having the shortest commute out of the 23 countries. Just shy of 40 minutes (at 39.7 minutes), workers in the US don’t spend as much time as employees in other countries getting to and from work. Having a shorter commute time can be such a relief at the end of a long working day, knowing that you don’t have far to travel to get home.

Planning a move to another country

For workers with dreams of working abroad, knowing the working culture is healthy is a massive selling point for where you choose to move to. For those hoping to seek a better work-life balance, looking for jobs in destinations where working days are shorter or where you’re likely to have a shorter commute could be something to consider to ensure a high quality of life.

Commenting on the research, Ryan Riley, VP of Marketing for EMEA and APAC at Remitly says:

“Anyone looking to move abroad for work needs to consider research like this when making what could be the biggest decision of their lives. Is the grass really greener? Work-life balance can drastically impact your personal well-being and how you feel about a place when you move there.

As well as reviewing data into typical work-life balance factors like commuting and breaks, our advice would be to find Facebook groups of people who have already made the move to the country you’re researching and ask for their lived experiences. Or try to find YouTube videos of what life looks like in different cities and countries from those who have emigrated there. All this information will mean you’re well-equipped if you are one of the 30% looking to relocate in the next five years for a better quality of work-life.”

Read next:

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by Irfan Ahmad via Digital Information World

Retail, Tech Sectors Lead in Cyber Breaches: Study Highlights Vulnerable Industries

NordPass partnered up with NordStellar to make a comprehensive data breach report after analyzing 2000 hacking incidents from September 2022 to September 2024. The report covered the type of companies which experience the most data breaches and what kind of strategies can improve the cybersecurity of companies.

According to the report, the top three industries to experience the most data breaches were tech, retail and business. There were 95 data breaches reported in retail between 2022 to 2024, while 56 were reported in the tech industry. Business services report 51 incidents of data breaches. Data breaches in the internet and web services sector and IT sector were also among the top ten.

The report found that private companies were most likely to experience data breach attacks. 85% (1,600) of the data breach incidents were on private companies, while only a few of them were on public, government or non-profit companies. 74% of the companies which were targeted were small or medium-sized with 51-200 employees. Smaller companies do not have the security system as advanced as large companies so they are more likely to get attacked.

The countries where the most data breach attacks happened were the US (489 incidents), India (114 incidents) and the UK (73 incidents). Spain and France were also among the top five countries with most data breach incidents, 43 and 39 respectively. The average cost reported of a data breach in 2024 was $5 million, according to a report by IBM.

If you need to keep your company safe from data breach attacks, spread awareness about it throughout your organization and take measures to ensure your company’s security. Monitor the dark web for any mentions of your company’s data and remain vigilant to potential threats.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World