X’s Bot Purge, TikTok’s New Photo App, Elon Goes Up Against Brazil, & More…

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Welcome to another episode of Creator Daily. I'm your host Michael, covering the
top news story's latest strategies and emergingtrends in the overall creator landscape. On
today's show, we'll see how X'srecent bot purge has prominent accounts watching their
follower counts plummet. We'll also takea peek at TikTok's move towards launching a
new photo app, potentially shaking upthe visual content game. Brazil and Elon

(00:28):
Musk are locking horns over issues withExis, and we got the scoop.
Plus, Instagram's ad revenue numbers areout and they've left even YouTube in the
dust. And finally, Hootsuite isexpanding its empire with the acquisition of social
listening giant talk walker Strap in forall this and more on Creator Daily.

(00:51):
X. The social media platform formerlyknown as Twitter has undertaken a significant crackdown
on bot accounts, resulting in notablefollower drops for some of it it's most
popular users. Elon Musk, whoowns the platform, saw a reduction of
forty three thousand followers, raising questionsabout the legitimacy of follower counts in several
top accounts. Other big names likeBarack Obama, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry,

(01:15):
Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga alsoexperienced decreases in their follower numbers,
about twenty thousand each. The purgeis part of X's efforts to combat platform
manipulation and spam, an ongoing battlethat Musk has been vocal about. Before
acquiring the platform, Musk contested thecompany's management, claiming that bots constituted a

(01:38):
far higher percentage of active users thanTwitter admitted. His estimates suggested bot accounts
could make up to twenty percent ofthe user base, leading to over forty
seven million fake profiles. The cleanupaction suggests that under Musk's management, there's
a push to rid X of theseinauthentic accounts. Nevertheless, THEIRS skepticism about
the progress made since the platform's usercount has increased rather than decreased, a

(02:01):
trend that seems counterintuitive. If numerousbots were indeed being eliminated, for real
headway to be shown, we mightexpect to see a significant decline in X's
reported monetizable daily and monthly active users. However, this would likely make headlines
for all the wrong reasons. Potentiallyimpacting the perception of the platform's success and

(02:22):
attractiveness to advertisers and investors. Overall, the impact of the latest bot purge
appears to be a drop in theocean relative to the broader bot activity on
the platform. Without a clear cutin user counts, X's claims of significant
bot eradication may be hard to substantiate. The future will tell if these efforts
will meaningfully clear out fake accounts ormerely scratch the surface of a much deeper

(02:45):
issue. Hey everyone, hear's thescoop on the latest social media developments.
TikTok is edging closer to launching itsown dedicated photo app, which is turning
heads in the tech community. SomeTikTok users have stumbled upon a message indicating
that their still images will soon befeatured on a new platform named TikTok Notes.

(03:06):
It's a bold move that echoes theoriginal essence of Instagram focusing on still
photography. This isn't the first hintof TikTok expanding its horizons. There were
earlier whispers of a TikTok Photos inthe app's code. The change to TikTok
Notes might even be poking a bitof fun at Instagram's own notes feature,
TikTok has already been nudging users towardssharing more photos, rolling out a photo

(03:30):
mode in twenty twenty two and promptingusers with alerts to post pictures. This
shift towards a photocentric platform also mirrorsthe trend in China where shaohong Shu,
which you might consider a cousin toInstagram, has been thriving, especially after
adding e commerce functionalities. But whetherTikTok enthusiasts really want a separate app just

(03:52):
for images is another question. Despitethe massive success of its video content,
replicating that triumph in still images isn'tguaranteed, TikTok's parent company, byte Dance,
isn't new to diversification. They launchedan e commerce platform called Lemon eight,
which had a burst of initial intereststhat waned after a few months.
Moreover, TikTok Music has seen somesuccess, so this move towards a dedicated

(04:16):
photo app could be TikTok trying outdifferent ventures, especially as it faces potential
bans in some markets. Everyone's watchingthe space to see if TikTok Notes will
be more than an experiment. We'vereached out to TikTok for more details and
will keep you posted with any updates. Keep an ear out for what's next
in the fast paced world of socialmedia. At the center of a legal

(04:41):
storm in Brazil is none other thanElon Musk, who recently shrugged off in
order to block certain profiles on X, the social media platform he owns.
The move prompted the Brazilian Supreme Courtto initiate an investigation into possible obstruction of
justice. Initially, X's global governmentaffairs team indicated they were legally compelled to

(05:01):
restrict certain popular accounts, warning ofhefty daily fines for non compliance, but
details on the court or judge involvedwere withheld. However, Musk quickly reversed
those actions and went as far asto suggest that Brazilians use a VPN and
even called for Justice Alexandra de Morase, who is at the helm of Brazil's

(05:24):
top election court and an advocate forbattling anti democratic content online, to resign
or be impeached. This tussle hasunfolded amid heightened scrutiny over misinformation and harmful
rhetoric on X in the wake ofMusk's acquisition. The platform has been criticized,
particularly by the EU, for itsfailure to effectively police false news,

(05:46):
including during the Israel Hamas conflict.Brazil's response to the debacle emphasizes an urgent
need for social media regulation. TheAttorney General made a pointed statement about the
dangers of allowing wealthy individuals b bacedoutside the country to wield control over social
networks and flout local laws. Musk, known for championing free speech, has

(06:06):
previously acknowledged his platform's obligation to abideby legal requirements, asserting X's responsibility to
adhere to the law. Interestingly,since Musk's takeover, X has reportedly complied
with over eighty per cent of governmentcensorship requests, an increase from the prior
fifty per cent rate. As bothsides remain firm in their positions, the

(06:27):
world is witnessing an escalating debate onthe balance between free speech and lawful internet
governance, particularly involving influential tech leadersand national authorities. In a bit of
surprising news, Instagram's ad revenue forthe year twenty twenty one soared past youtubes,
hitting a massive thirty two point fourbillion dollars. This figure not only

(06:49):
overshadows YouTube's twenty eight point eight billiondollars, but also contributes a hefty twenty
seven per cent to the total revenueof Instagram's parent company Meta. Despite this,
Instagram's head Adammseri indicated the platform couldn'tafford ongoing performance bonuses for creators reels,
which contrasts with YouTube's more stable revenuesharing model that hands over fifty five

(07:11):
percent of ad revenue to creators forlong form videos. Back in twenty twenty
one, Instagram proposed the Reels playbonus program as a part of a so
called one billion dollars commitment to aidingcreators in building sustainable businesses. However,
by twenty twenty three, this programwas shut down, and Instagram has opted
to offer intermittent seasonal bonuses instead,currently capping at thirty thousand dollars per creator

(07:34):
for a thirty day window. Lookingback, Instagram's journey to these big ad
revenue numbers isn't new. They generatedeleven point three billion dollars in twenty eighteen,
seventeen point nine billion dollars in twentynineteen, and twenty two billion dollars
in twenty twenty, with a reportedsixteen point five billion dollars for just the

(07:54):
first half of twenty twenty two.But the big question remains, will insist
Togram ever adopt a YouTube like revenuesharing model for monetization, providing consistent monthly
earnings for creators. Well, fornow, we're advised not to hold our
breath for such a change. Ina piece of news that's sure to interest

(08:16):
social media managers and marketers out there, hootsuite is making a significant expansion to
their capabilities. They're acquiring talk Walker, a provider in the social listening space,
for an undisclosed sum. This moveis going to give hoot suites two
hundred thousand users some shiny new tools, including advanced data analytics and the ability

(08:37):
to monitor social mentions through keyword alerts, which is a step beyond what's currently
available on their dashboard. Hootsuite's prettyexcited about this, suggesting that by bringing
in talk Walker, they're not justbeefing up social media management, but driving
a whole category evolution towards what they'recalling social media performance. Their goal is

(08:58):
to transform insights into to actions andimpact boosted by AI, though they mentioned
the use of AI here is stillbudding and might not revolutionize social listening just
yet, the merger's timing seems strategic, particularly as the platform formerly known as
Twitter introduced new pricing for its dataaccess last year designed to limit the number
of data AI providers can grab onthe cheap. That decision really puts some

(09:22):
pressure on everyone in the market,especially smaller players, and it appears companies
are having to think differently about theirbusiness models to keep up with changing costs
while still providing valuable services. Theidea behind Hootsuite and Talkwalker's merger is to
consolidate their resources, which should helpthem cut costs but also keep serving their

(09:43):
users without missing a beat, andthe result for users expect to see a
richer set of social listening functionalities soonas hoot Suite weaves in talk Walker's features.
Keep an eye on the industry becauseit looks like this might be the
start of a trend, which withmore mergers on the horizon as competition in
the AI space heats up and dataaccess becomes a pricier commodity. Hootsweet is

(10:07):
planning to seal the deal on thisacquisition by the second quarter of twenty twenty
four, So if you're in thesocial media game. This could mean more
power at your fingertips to track andengage with conversations about your brand across various
platforms. It's an evolving space andclearly Hootsuite and talk Walker are looking to
lead the way. That's a wrapon today's episode of Creator Daily. I'm

(10:28):
your host, Michael, and it'sbeen a pleasure bringing you the latest stories,
strategies, and trends from the Creatoruniverse. I hope you found the
conversation both enlightening and inspiring as younavigate your creative journey. Don't forget to
keep the show notes for all thejuicy links and extra information we talked about
today. There's some gold in therethat you won't want to miss. And

(10:50):
Hey, if you've got thoughts,questions, or just want to share your
experiences, we'd love to hear fromyou. Shoot us an email over at
Creator Daily at podcrafter dot com.Thanks for tuning in, and remember to
stay connected, stay creative, keepbuilding. Until next time, keep pushing
the boundaries of your creativity. Havea fantastic day, and see you on

(11:11):
the next episode of Creator Daily.