Each week the Insights Team at The Goat Agency pull together the latest news from the social space in a weekly social media industry news round-up. This week we cover Elon Musk’s threat of a Twitter vs Apple war, Twitter’s plans for 2.0 and Google pursuing legal action against business scammers.
Don’t forget you can follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter for real-time announcements of all our new blog content!
Contents
Google Pursues Legal Action Against Scammers Selling Google Business Profiles
Elon Musk Threatens Twitter War With Apple
LinkedIn Launches Native In-App Post Scheduling
WhatsApp’s Promoting A New Feature For Sending Yourself A Message
New Slide Deck Underlines Elon Musk’s Plan For Twitter 2.0
Google Pursues Legal Action Against Scammers Selling Google Business Profiles
Following a recent court battle against a Russian bot network, Google has announced a new legal proceeding, this time against scammers that have been manipulating business owners and charging them to access Google My Business.
Google says that they are “filing a lawsuit against scammers who sought to defraud hundreds of small businesses by impersonating Google through telemarketing calls”
Google notes that the fraudsters are exploiting business owners by forcing them to pay for their Google Business Profiles, which do not require a fee to use.
“A Business Profile is a tool that allows business owners to take charge of the way their business appears on Search and Maps, and it allows consumers to find their favorite (or, soon-to-be favorite) coffee shops, restaurants or hardware stores. It’s a tool designed to empower people. However, some scammers have tried to abuse and profit from it through deceptive and predatory practices.” Adds Google.
A new legal precedent would enable Google to combat this type of fraud in the future. Which is important considering there are less web-savvy business owners who are at risk of such exploitation, yet understand that Google and its SEO capabilities are a huge focus and aren’t aware that such tools are free to access.
Elon Musk Threatens Twitter War With Apple
Elon Musk sparks controversy once more. This time, he’s putting the entire business on the line and going after Apple.
Apple has reduced its Twitter ad spend, and reporting suggest that Apple was Twitter’s top advertiser during the first quarter of this year, with up $50 million being injected into efforts on the platform.
That is the equivalent of 2.1 million subscribers to the new $8 per month verification plan, it with Apple’s 30% App Store tac, it’s closer to 3 million subscribers that Musk would need to replace that ad spend.
Which leads us onto the next point, Musk has been critical of Apple’s App Store fee for years, and now he’s raising this as a prominent hindrance to Twitter’s progress.
In apt Musk fashion, he is also making this about ‘free speech’, and Apple’s App Store regulations, which enable it to remove apps that don’t properly police content, e.g. removing hate speech, threats etc.
Musk insists that Apple has threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store if it fails to maintain compliance with these new regulations. It’s worth noting that Apple is now being framed as an opposer of ‘free speech’ in the light that they cast on app developers through their regulations.
Twitter’s policies on freedom of speech haven’t actually changes, other than some previously banned figures being allowed back on the app. Which reminds me, is Donald Trump back on Twitter or is Truth Social proving to lucrative to pass up? (he is back on Twitter).
LinkedIn Launches Native In-App Post Scheduling
Selected users on LinkedIn are now able to access the platform’s native post scheduling tools, which has been testing internally over previous months.
LinkedIn’s ,management process could get a whole lot easier, and with more users looking to potential alternatives – should Twitter cave in on itself – this could prove to be a deciding factor.
Although you can already schedule LinkedIn posts via third-party social management apps, the addition of native options offers a security blanket in that native scheduling tends to be more reliable. Most scheduling tools do now include preview elements, but integrated tools provide more of a definitive look showing you exactly how the live post will appear.
As far as the platform’s wider user base gaining access to this feature, LinkedIn stated:
“We’re starting to roll out post scheduling on desktop and Android so that our creators can easily plan the content they want to share next, with iOS coming soon. This means you can schedule text posts, videos, and images up to three months in advance.”
LinkedIn also says that it’ll be adding post scheduling for Groups, Company Pages, and other content formats in the near future, helping you map out your LinkedIn strategy in a more hands on fashion.
WhatsApp’s Promoting A New Feature For Sending Yourself A Message
WhatsApp is rolling out a new offering that enables you to send a message to yourself. This could be a viable option for note taking, sending or saving links or simply keeping track of the general day-to-day.
The feature has been in testing for a few weeks, with beta testers getting their fill in late October. WhatsApp has now confirmed that it’s heading to all users across Android and iOS.
To send yourself a message in the app, you’ll be able to choose your contact information form the top of the contacts list. Tapping this button will open up a chat window, where you can send yourself the message.
There’s a range of ways in which this could be used. For creatives, it might be an option for logging ideas, for the busier individual, what better way to keep a log of the day’s meetings. Consider it to be the next step in the way of the diary.
Elon Musk Outlines Roadmap for Twitter 2.0
Away from the impending war with Apple, Elon Musk has issued some more insight into his plan for Twitter. The platform is expected to embark on a hiring push, after firing 65% of its workforce, in order to acquire development and engineering talent to bring forward Musk’s grand design.
With that, Musk has put together a pitch deck, which aims to clarify his current plan.
In the first slide, Musk highlights that new account sign-ups are at an all-time high, dating back to 2014. That could mean that more people are keen to get in on Twitter conversations, and with Meta-owned platforms wrapped up in their own turmoil, Twitter is seemingly becoming a more interesting option. This could also be the result of scammers and trolls signing up to the platform amidst Musk’s chaotic take-over.
The deck moves on to User Active Minutes, which also stands at an all-time high. Interestingly, the average Twitter user is now spending 31.5 minutes per day within the app. To put it briefly, Twitter’s data shows that usage time is back at its previous levels, after losing its way for some time, which is not surpassing given the sheer quantity we’ve been seeing of the app and its new owner.
Musk moved on to share an overview of his current roadmap, which is essentially a realignment of Twitter’s current features.
‘Advertising as entertainment’ crops up, using an example of an automated sampling script to create a more engaging ad experience. It’s unclear whether Musk is suggesting that this is something Twitter will offer as an ad tool, but these types of activations have been designed by brand partners in collaboration with Twitter.
The next frame, simply titled ‘video’, could play into the flagging of longer video clips being attached to tweets. Musk has also discussed the idea of having a creator monetization program that would offer a more beneficial revenue share than YouTube’s 45/55 split.
Encrypted DMs feature amongst Musk’s plans too, with Meta also integrating full encryption across Messenger, Instagram Direct and WhatsApp.
The roadmap goes onto mention the integration of Twitter Notes, which looks at bringing longer form content to the app. Then there’s the revamped $8 verification plan, that Musk sees ad the holy grail of getting Twitter back to where it belongs.
Can Musk keep coming up with more attention-grabbing changes at the app, or will this roadmap actually lead to a more sustainable business, enabling him to stop grabbing headlines, and leave Twitter to its own devices?
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And that’s all for this week, but don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter for real-time announcements of all our new blog content!
