DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: SEP ‘16
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
Instagram’s New Internet Bullying Safeguard
By Crystal Stanford, SEM / PPC Manager
Anyone who has ever read the comments section of some of the most popular YouTube videos can attest to the offensiveness some people feel comfortable spewing on the internet hiding behind their keyboard and screen. The distastefulness is also sometimes present on other platforms like Twitter and Instagram, which have both been in the news recently for high-profile bullying targets like Leslie Jones (and the entire female Ghostbusters cast), Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber’s girlfriend Sofia Richie, who many avid Bieber-Beliebers have deemed unworthy of his affection and subsequently made that clear via the comments section of his and her Instagram photos. (Bieber responded by threatening to make his Instagram private.)
At times overshadowing her accomplishments at the Rio Olympic games, it was reported that Gabby Douglas was at times deeply upset over being the target of internet bullies, and Leslie Jones was forced to shut down her Twitter account after racist and sexist comments got out of control. Jones tweeted out, “I leave Twitter tonight with tears and a very sad heart,” before going silent. The anonymity and the distance between the bullies and the bullied that the internet provides apparently creates fertile ground for this kind of behavior.
In response to the Leslie Jones event, it’s been reported that Twitter banned Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative blogger who writes for Breitbart, and appears to have been the internet-bully ringleader rallying the charge against Jones. Most recently, Instagram rolled out a new feature that helps users automatically filter out “Inappropriate Comments”, and set up custom parameters for filtering out some of the more “creative” insults.
Users can now easily toggle a switch to “Hide Inappropriate Comments” via their Settings menu. Instagram says that this is a standard list of keywords for inappropriate comments (most likely made up of common profanities), but does not disclose exactly what keywords this list is made up of. In the next field, users can enter “Custom Keywords” to filter out. It’s notable that the keywords can include emoji. Many speculated that Instagram was developing or had already developed this technology when recently thousands of snake emoji disappeared from Taylor Swift’s Instagram comments, after being spammed with them by internet Taylor haters. An interesting detail is that while the offending comments are filtered out for the target of offense and all other Instagram users, the comment still appears to the offender, effectively, if not deceptively or temporarily, pacifying the bully.
While this new feature seems like a big win for victims of Instagram bullies everywhere, it raises some interesting questions about how brands, companies, and public entities (especially politicians) can responsibly use the tool in such a way that it doesn’t censor public opinion. While it might be tempting for McDonald’s to stifle comments related to “factory farming”, the fallout from the public discovering that such a tactic is being used to stifle opinions and discourse, could possibly be more damaging than dozens of comments about livestock living in squalor. If it’s racist or sexually inappropriate, those comments will only serve to degrade the conversation and hurt people. By all means, filter those out. But any negative opinions regarding your products or services should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. From there, most of these types of comments should be addressed one-by-one. They definitely should not be automatically filtered out.
All in all, it’s good to see Instagram taking a proactive step to nip the bullying issue in the bud. Quality user experience is important for growing and maintaining an active user base and social media community. On the other hand, many have criticized Twitter for its tepid reaction to reports of Leslie Jones being absolutely overwhelmed by Twitter bullies. The incident only fueled already present concerns about Twitter devolving into a platform for internet trolls. We have seen the stagnation (see below) of Twitter’s active user base, while other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat continue to grow. Perhaps these two issues are not completely unrelated.
Twitter Buyout & Predictions
By Caroline Desmond, Director of Media Strategy
Rumors have circulated since January of this year that Twitter is ready to sell to another major media or tech company. Some of the names that have been thrown around include Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, News Corp., and Microsoft (who also recently purchased LinkedIn for $26 billion). According to recode Twitter’s board of directors met this week in San Francisco to discuss the future of the company including the option to sell. This news comes as little surprise given the less than stellar active user growth through Q2 of this year, which was basically nonexistent. The increasing speculation around a possible sell makes me wonder what would happen to Twitter if a larger tech company, a competitor perhaps buys it? What if Twitter goes the way of Instagram and WhatsApp, becoming another in a series of acquisitions by Facebook? Would it lose its status as a standalone app?
First it’s helpful context to understand how Twitter has reached this point. As Twitter growth has stalled, other social behemoths like Facebook have rolled out new capabilities like Facebook LIVE that compete with Twitter offerings like Periscope. Instagram and Snapchat, were specifically designed for visual sharing and short-form content. Each platform has its own version of user stories, and they target a similar demographic, namely teens and young adults. Whereas Twitter’s Vine gets 1.5 billion video views per day, Bloomberg reported in Q2 that Snapchat logs 10 billion videos each day. Last June, Snapchat surpassed Twitter in daily active users indicating a much more engaged audience. Furthermore, while brands have long used Twitter as a customer service platform, Facebook’s Messenger Bots increasingly deliver concierge services for brands seeking to provide greater utility to their customers.
The latest Comscore cross visiting data shows there is already strong overlap between Twitter
and other social nets. In fact, Twitter shares roughly a third of its overall monthly user base with Facebook. With strong overlap and other platforms delivering the same, yet improved services, it does make me wonder…. what IS Twitter’s unique selling proposition?
As with other industries, I expect we’ll continue to see consolidation in social media where the most innovative consolidate with smaller upstarts, and buy out those lagging behind. My gut tells me that more likely, Twitter will evolve from a standalone app to a backend technology that powers another larger service. Time will tell…
Podcasts Are All The Rage
By Nathan Johnson, Media Planner
Storytelling, one of the most powerful ways for person or brand to share with an attentive audience. Of late, the medium of choice for many brands to share their message has been video due to the ability to create beautiful stories through picture and audio. What may come as a surprise however is the growth of a medium that has been around for awhile — that is, podcasting.
In fact, monthly podcast listening in the US grew 24% over the past year and now accounts for 21% of the population. Let’s put a little context around that number. Spotify, a music platform that many including myself use on a regular basis only reaches 13% of the US population monthly. And we aren’t talking about one or two podcasts here and there. The weekly podcaster consumes on average five shows.
One of the primary factors for the increase in podcast listening can likely be attributed to mobility which has created a wider consumption window. For example, in 2014 podcasts were primarily consumed on desktop computers, which is a stationary experience. But now users are able access this medium through their mobile devices — now accounting for 64% of podcast listening.
The podcasting trend is also bringing real value to brands. According to report by IAB and Edison Research, almost two-thirds of podcast listeners are inclined to consider purchasing products and services on podcasts. Additionally, podcast listeners said that they regularly respond to ads during podcasts by:
- Visiting a sponsor’s website (45%)
- Considering a new product or service (42%)
- Gathering more information about a product or company (37%)
For some marketers, jumping into the podcasting space can seem a bit daunting. One major reason for that is the lack of available metrics compared to other digital advertising tactics. Marketers have access to user subscription and downloads volume, however they are unable to measure completion rate or average time spent listening. On the bright side, industry leaders feel optimistic about the future of measurability as the space continues to grow.
A great example of a successful podcast series was eBay who recently partnered with Gimlet Media to create their first branded podcast series called Open for Business. Each episode focused on different aspects of starting a business and ended up landing the №1 spot for business podcasts on iTunes when it launched. The key was eBay was only lightly integrated into each podcast as to ensure listeners felt like they weren’t listening to an ad.
This was only possible because eBay was confident enough in Gimlet to take creative control and create an interesting story that was still relevant for their audience. While simple in theory this can end up being one of the scariest moves for a brand.
Podcasts are an authentic and genuine medium to reach consumers who are many times on the go. However, it’s the subtle nature of the space that requires brands to truly create compelling content and not just a 30-minute audio ad. The rule of thumb should be — if you wouldn’t share it, just don’t do it.
