We aren't going anywhere
We — like so many — were sad to hear about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Tributes flooded social media following her death, while mourners gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court. She will be dearly missed. RIP, RGB.
In this week's newsletter — a TikTok deal gets Trump's seal of approval, Facebook and Instagram expand automated captions, a new app aims to help business owners manage social media, and the TikTok competition heats up. Read on 🧐
In The Tik of Time
Hours before a U.S. ban on new downloads of TikTok was about to take effect, details of a deal between the video-sharing app with Oracle and Walmart were announced — with the blessing of U.S. President Donald Trump. This means the download ban has been pushed back at least a week to Sept. 27. The deal, if approved, would see Oracle act as a "trusted tech partner." It would be "responsible for fully securing our users' data," according to a TikTok statement. Under the deal, Oracle and Walmart would hold a cumulative 20 per-cent stake in the company, TikTok would become TikTok Global, and the company would be headquartered in the U.S., likely Texas, according to the NY Times.
Ban background This deal comes after months of back-and-forth between TikTok parent company ByteDance, based in China, and the U.S. administration, which accuses the app of putting U.S. users' information at risk. TikTok has always vehemently denied any risk, and launched a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the executive orders enforcing a ban. Surprisingly, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri is taking TikTok's side. He criticized the U.S. ban, tweeting "it would be bad for Instagram, Facebook, and the internet more broadly." (Perhaps someone should tell Zuckerberg?)
What about WeChat?
TikTok wasn't the only app saved from the U.S. ban at the last minute. China-based messaging and payments app WeChat — set to disappear from U.S. app stores on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. — got a last-minute reprieve after a judge blocked a ban of the app over the weekend. The case was brought to court by a group of U.S. WeChat users who argued the ban would restrict free speech. The U.S. administration argues WeChat (like TikTok) is a security risk. But Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler said in her ruling that a ban wouldn't address those concerns, and issued a temporary injunction. WeChat, owned by tech giant Tencent, is considered a lifeline by many.
What's next for TikTok? While Trump gave his thumbs up, the TikTok/Oracle/Walmart deal still has to be approved by the Chinese government. It also has to receive official U.S. approval (and TikTok could still be banned by Nov. 12 if the deal doesn't go through). But in the meantime, interim CEO Vanessa Pappas says TikTok is here to stay.
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ICYMI
Captions on
In this age of online video, it's nice to see that accessibility is becoming more important. Here's how Facebook and Instagram are adding automated captions to more of their features:
Hosting a live video is about to get a bit easier. You can now choose to turn on automated captions on a Facebook Live (and Workplace Live). The captions are supported in six language: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and French.
Facebook-owned Instagram is also offering automated captions on its IGTV videos. Go to settings to turn them on. Captions will be available in 16 languages at launch, according to Vishal Shah, VP of product at Instagram.
A 'suite' solution
Small business owners have a lot to contend with — so let's hope this makes managing social media a bit easier. Facebook announced a new app that will allow SMBs to manage their Pages and profiles across Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger from within a new single interface called Facebook Business Suite. The app allows business owners to schedule posts, manage messages and orders, create ads and check insights across both platforms. In the future, Facebook plans to add WhatsApp, according to Axios. Business Suite is rolling out throughout September, and will be available to brands who choose to "boost posts" vs. those who use Ads Manager (aka, small brands vs. big brands). This announcement comes as Facebook also released its third edition of the Global State of Small Business Report. The results: Many small business continue to report lower sales and reductions in staff due to COVID-19. But some businesses have seen the benefits of shifting to e-commerce.
Stop copying me
This is what we imagine TikTok is saying, as several companies try to take advantage of the confusion (and fear) over the future of the popular video-sharing app. First there was Instagram Reels, and now... YouTube Shorts. Shorts allows you to use your phone to create videos of up to 15 seconds in length. It includes edit tools that are very similar to TikTok's (speed controls, stringing multiple videos together, etc.) Shorts is currently being beta tested in India, but YouTube says it hopes to expand it to more countries in the coming months. Meanwhile, TikTok's biggest influencer (with 87 million followers, icyww), 16-year-old Charlie D'Amelio and her family have just joined rival app Triller (which also coincidentally tried to make a bid for TikTok's U.S. operations). U.S. President Donald Trump also has an account on the app.
NEWS-LIKE
🔴 YouTube Hit With UK Class-Action Lawsuit For Unlawful Use of Kids' Data [TechCrunch]
🔴 Twitter Rolls Out New Security Features to Prevent Election Day Chaos [The Verge]
🔴 TikTok is Still Growing Faster Than Facebook and Snapchat [Motley Fool]
🔴 Don't Quit Facebook. Change Laws. [New York Times]
🔴 Obama Says He Has a Finsta and Now Everyone is Trying to Find It [Mashable]
HAPPY-LIKE
Certified young person Paul Rudd has a message for his fam. "Masks are totally beast." Tru dat. 😷
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