Mediaboss Marketing

Sex happens. Its why Im here. Its and I hate to disgust you why youre here. Your parents had sex. Their parents had sex. We have all had, or likely will have, sex. But on social media, many of us arent having sex. Were having seggs, secs or s3x.

Log onto some of the worlds most popular social media platforms, like Instagram and TikTok, and youll often find a sexless world but one thats plenty seggsy. As part of a growing trend to remove legitimately harmful content online, social media platforms are clamping down on sex and sexual terms. And the move is forcing users to resort to clever phonetics and emojis to talk openly about sex while avoiding account suspensions or permanent bans.

Platforms are essentially declaring war on sex, nudity and sexuality, says Carolina Are, a London-based content moderation academic and pole dance instruction. Most of the major social media platforms are based in the US, and as such are adhering to rules decreed in Washington. Theyre cracking down on potential solicitation and nudity or sexual activity, which I can only assume is on the back of FOSTA-SESTA [two US Senate and House bills that became law in 2018].

FOSTA-SESTA was designed to halt sex trafficking, but, in Ares opinion, it has caught many other innocent people in its drag net. She has had her Instagram account deleted once, and her TikTok account has been temporarily blocked a number of times. Obviously, I dont want that to happen again, so I sometimes change the language. Search TikTok for #sextoys and you wont find the hashtag, she says, but search #femalepleasure and youll find the equivalent.

Sexual content and the spaces for it are really shrinking on social media, she says. I think that says a lot about the relationship users have with those platforms. They live in fear of being censored or being deleted. And they have to protect themselves while still talking about the issues that matter to them the most.

One influencer trapped in that bind is Vista Wife, an advocate and educator on the swinging lifestyle, who has 150,000 followers on TikTok, 10,000 on Instagram, and 7,500 on Twitter. Youve just got to be really cautious about it, she says. She finds she has to be far more careful about her content on Instagram and TikTok both of which have comparatively younger user bases than Twitter.

We always live on the principle of: Ooh, should I say that? Can I say that? What can I say?she says. Vista Wife and her husband often host TikTok Live sessions, answering questions from newcomers to swinging, but these have now become a tightrope walk. Its nerve-wracking, she says, because if you said something in a discussion and TikTok go: Woah, hang on a minute, [and] they just block your account. You start having to think about everything that youre saying every little detail to make sure you can still be there and present.

The practice of employing a near second language of phonetic and emoji terms to talk openly about sex has long been known to users of Grindr, says Max Morris, a lecturer in criminology at Oxford Brookes University who focuses on queer theory. Lots of these kinds of codes emerged on Grindr because the app had quite a censorious approach to certain things drugs and sex work primarily, but also more explicit photos. Grindrs approach (which has been relaxed in the last year towards explicit photos) was driven by the need to meet Apples strict criteria for listing on the App Store. Without following their rules, apps arent able to access the primary form of distribution to users on phones.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and Grindrs user base came up with their own underground code designed to evade the censors. Rather than explicitly saying users could be paid for sex, which the app monitored and banned, sex workers began using the banknote emoji instead. When Grindr recognised the tide had shifted and started taking action against that, they moved on to the diamond emoji. People will always find ways to get around sexual censorship, but I would look at what the platforms explicitly allow or don't allow, rather than asking why users go to these lengths, says Morris.

While those misspelt homonyms and emoji may seem like a solution, Are isnt entirely sure. Her research, and communications with Instagram, show that when one term is shadowbanned and placed onto the list of forbidden hashtags, some terms that sound similar are also shadowbanned. Just as Grindr eventually caught up with the banknote emoji users, theyre also likely to crack down on the deployment of diamonds.

In a request for comment, TikTok told VICE that it doesnt allow sexually explicit content on the platform including behaviours that mimic, imply or display sex acts. The word sex itself isnt banned on TikTok, VICE understands, nor does using it impact the performance of your video. Its about how the word is used and in what context. An Instagram spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

This crackdown on sexualised hashtags, words and phrases shouldnt just worry those engaged in sex work. In 2022, social media is the public sphere; its where people come to talk about their concerns and queries; to learn and ask questions. And if theyre unable to find answers particularly around vexed issues of sex and consent that can have problematic consequences.

This trickles down to different types of sexual expression, to sex education, to information and networking-related stuff for survivors that becomes difficult to talk about, Are says. It affects everyday users as much as it can sex work. It could have some really worrying offline consequences if, for example, sex education isnt available anymore.

Its a really tricky one, says Vista Wife. Youve got children using these apps, and that content can go to children. But I think children should be taught more about sex and it should be more of a conversation.

A vacuum of information could push the topic of sex even further into the shadows of society and make people feel ashamed about discussing it directly. This has the potential to create a vicious circle: the less social media platforms allow us to talk about sex, the less comfortable we feel doing so in our everyday lives. It shouldnt be something that people should have to hide away, says Vista Wife. Itd be more healthy if people could speak about it more and not be as prudish.

@stokel

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'What Does Seggs Mean?' The Rise of Sex Euphemisms on Social Media - VICE UK

StackCommerce

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Learn how to boost your brand with Google Analytics and social media for $35 - ZDNet

While social media for many of us is about filters, feeling envious of our friends holiday photos and following our favourite influencers, for Gen Z its all about being their authentic selves and discussing the things that matter most to them.

At Yubo, the social networking platform, whats important is life, not likes, and creating a safe place for young people to make friends, find their voice and feel empowered. Last year alone nearly four million rooms were created on Yubo by users to debate how they can revolutionise the fight for racial justice with one million profiles including the black raised fist emoji to show solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement. When it comes to education around other cultures, racial justice advocate Kaia (above) thinks it should start from a young age.

I educate my peers on injustices and anti-racism when the topic comes up, or prompt discussions to be had. However, Black and African cultures werent on the curriculum in school, amongst so many important aspects that are in need to be implemented. Its very important, especially living in a multicultural country, that we learn about the people we coexist with and learn about the other cultures around us.

Unlike other social media platforms, Yubo is all about friends, not followers, and theres not an influencer in sight trying to sell you something. Because Yubo focusses on live-streaming, users dont need to post, hoping for likes, they can broadcast in real-time to discuss the issues most important to them. And others can tune in to share in the experience, to chat, debate and build genuine connections that go way beyond the usual #followforfollow.

Influencer and LGBTQI+ ambassador Coach Woodzy aims to use the platform to help others. Over two million profiles included the pride flag in 2021, with LGBTQI+ live streams increasing by a whopping 411%. Discussing ways of helping affirm others gender identities he said, Ask yourself about the stories you make up in your head about others. Why is it so hard to accept their pronouns, why do you think they look weird in those clothes or with that haircut? Why do you think their name should be different?

The more that we notice the stories we build in our heads, the more we can get curious about those stories and work to unpack them so we can offer your best efforts in supporting everyone around us for being themselves not just who we think they should be.

Gen Zers have never known a world without social media. And Yubo is leading the way for a positive change against the pressures of perfection and the need for likes and follows, with over five million rooms dedicated to giving users a safe space to vent their frustrations, find a sympathetic ear and discuss ways of limiting the negative effects of social media.

Yubo is a place to be the real you, to socialise virtually in real time, allowing for genuine interactions and true friendships without the usual pressures of social media.

Whatever is important to you, whatever you believe in, you have a voice and Yubo is the perfect space for you make it heard.

Find out more about Yubo here

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For Gen Z social media isnt just about selfies, with Yubo, its about the important things, too - Grazia

We get it! You're busy scheduling content and engaging with your followers, so it can be difficult to make time to sit down and read about the latest Facebook algorithm update or how brands are leveraging TikTok. But, hey, it's also important to carve out time to learn about new ways to improve your social media strategy. So, put down your phone (we know: it's a big ask!) and indulge in reading about recent social media updates.

If you work in social media marketing, these are the stories you need to read this week!

Up to four options rather than two are now available in Instagram Stories! If you've ever not answered a poll because neither answer fit, or you wanted a "both" option, those days are over. Which is also good news for social media managers trying to capture those taps for engagement metrics. Posters can also now update the color of the poll question text, allowing for more brand alignment.

It's Black History Month! Companies and brands around the world are celebrating in various ways. The Metaverse launched the "Metaverse Culture Series" which will use VR and AR to help amplify black voices through collaborations with black creators, and provide educational resources on black culture and history. Importantly, the series will run for a full year, rather than just the month of February.

Privacy concerns have been at the forefront of social media users minds for several years, and a new study from Snapchat reveals that actually having tools to control their privacy is more important for Gen Z and millennial users than a "privacy policy". The report found that "65% of respondents are actually satisfied with their online privacy" and that having better options for controlling what they share is a priority.

Another social platform dedicated to elevating black creators this month is Pinterest. Continuing their new livestream shopping endeavor "Pinterest TV", which launched just before the holidays, Pinterest will be "amplifying Black creator content through a Pinterest TV series focused around Nourishing Your Soul, working with inspiring creators across food, fashion, beauty and wellness."

A new toolbox hub from Twitter aims to help marketers quickly access all the features, apps, and resources they need to improve their Twitter marketing prowess. The Hub includes links to a number of 3rd party apps and sites, broken up into three sections: Expression tools, Safety tools, and Measurement tools. It remains to be seen how long the hub will be active or if it will change as Twitter promotes more of its internal tools, but for now it's a great way for marketers to keep up!

Update from January 25th

TikTok is planning a few new features, currently in experiment mode and not yet being tested live. These include a customizable avatar similar to Apples "Memoji" in look and feel, audio-only live streaming which gives creators more options to build their audience, and a creator subscription model, akin to what Instagram is currently testing.

Twitter's newest upcoming feature is called "Flocks" and it will enable users to share Tweets with a select group, rather than publicly. It is similar to "close friends" in Instagram Stories which allows you to only show your Story to people on your close friends list. Twitter already offers control over who can see and post replies, so Flocks can add an extra level of protection as well as the ability to create conversation between a close knit group.

In a continuing effort to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation, Instagram has announced that it will now demote posts that are detected by the algorithm to contain hate speech or bullying, or that may incite violence. Instagram already shows posts lower on feeds that are reported by independent fact checkers, so this is essentially a step toward automating the process and catching posts that aren't reported.

Meta business platform, Workplace, announced last year that it would be implementing a WhatsApp integration to help facilitate communication between remote teams. In particular the update aims to make it easier for frontline workers to stay connected, ensuring "that information and updates reach frontline workers where they are in real-time."

There's no question that the working world is rapidly changing and a new ad for LinkedIn illustrates how the professional networking site is adapting to accommodate these changes. The promotional video focuses on the changing nature of what it means to be a "professional" and what work-from-home means for work-life balance.

Update from January 18th

The power of manifestation is the subject of the latest ad campaign for Twitter. Billboards have started showing up in various cities, showcasing famous athletes and entertainers early Tweets with career aspirations and dreams. Today these dreams have been realized, and it's a nice reminder of the power of intention setting. Sometimes publicly sending your aspirations out into the universe (or on Twitter) can have powerful results!

2. TikTok Tests Integrated Stories

TikTok is in the early stages of testing a more integrated experience for its Stories feature. While currently Stories on TikTok live in their own separate space, this change would include them in the "For You" and "Following" sections of the app. Navigation to Stories creation would also now be available from your main feed as well. Users scrolling through will see how many cards each Story contains and can tap through to view from right within their main feed, which is the biggest difference from Instagram's Stories.

3. Pinterest Shares How the Male Demographic Uses Pins

While Pinterests primary demographic is women, a new report indicates that more men are using the platform today, and takes a look at what they're interested in. The study reveals that men are making big goals and spending decisions for 2022. According to Pinterest: "75% of men in our study are planning to spend more this year to bring their goals to fruition... the study showed a mix of big-picture intention setting (eat better, find work-life balance) and smaller shifts to have more fun (socialize more, spend more time with friends)."

4. Snapchat Adds More Protections for Minors

In a move similar to one made by Instagram in 2021, Snapchat announced plans to make its platform a safer place for minors. The platform will be adding more safeguards to its "Quick Add" suggestions feature to prevent users under 18 from being connected to and contacted by adults they don't know. Approximately 20% of Snapchats user base is under 18.

5. YouTube Adds a "Media Kit"

YouTube has introduced an exciting new addition called "Media Kit " to help creators share their audience and engagement metrics more efficiently and effectively with brands and advertisers. This will make it easier for creators to earn ad revenue and partner with more brands who are interested in getting in front of relevant influencer audiences.

Update from January 11th

While "sound off" is the default setting for most platforms when showing videos, TikTok is taking the opposite route. With 9 out of 10 TikTok users viewing sounds as essential, the platform seeks to expand their audio offerings and explore the continuing evolution of how sound is used to create content on TikTok. Audio is a key component to TikTok content, and with its popularity it will be interesting to see if other platforms will eventually switch from sound-off to sound-on by default.

Pinterest has made it easier to find specific profiles and creators with a new filter that shows up in search results. The feature showcases Pinners related to certain search terms, so users can identify new people to follow who match their interests.

In what promises to be an eventful year of changes and new features, Instagram is coming in hot out the gate, testing an option that will allow users to rearrange their grid post photos and videos. This would be a welcome addition for content creators on the platform, giving more control over the first posts people see when they visit your profile. Instagram has also teased the possibility of a "pinned post" to come later this year.

A new privacy center is now available on Facebook, describing in fuller detail how Meta gathers and uses data, with more control for users to decide what they want to share. There are five different sections where people can find more information about privacy: Security, Sharing, Collection, Use, and Ads. Currently the new center is only available to US users on desktop, with plans to roll it out to a wider base soon.

Given the popularity of video and reaction-posts on platforms like Instagram Reels and TikTok, it was only a matter of time before Twitter tried to get in on the action. They are currently testing a new "live reactions" feature as an additional sharing option. The feature allows users to quote-Tweet with a full screen video response with the quoted Tweet visible.

Update from December 14th

Instagram is continuing its race to keep up with TikTok, adding a new feature that allows users to reply to photo or video comments with an Instagram Reel. This functionality is already available on TikTok, so it's clear that Instagram wants to make sure its users have access to the same types of features as its biggest rival. The further integration of short-form video as replies will boost engagement and encourage content creators to make more Reels (we'll likely start to see a subculture of "response Reels" before long!).

Audio features are set to be a continuing social media trend and WhatsApp is getting in on the action with a new feature enabling users to preview voice messages before sending. In an age where leaving a voicemail causes anxiety for an entire generation, this update is a welcome and useful option. You can play your message back and make sure it sounds the way you intended before sending. No more off-the-cuff rambling or robotic script reading!

In an intriguing update for YouTube creators, the video platform recently launched "Places Mentioned". This is a new feature where any places mentioned in your video will show up visually in the video description box, so viewers can easily get more information about locations highlighted in your content. The feature essentially lessens the manual work on creators to add links, making it a more seamless and easy process. It's unclear at this juncture if the feature is only available on mobile devices.

It's considered best practice these days to always include captions on videos. Not only are they helpful for deaf & hard of hearing viewers, they also helps clarify what's said if the audio is muffled, and additionally most videos play without sound by default so they are an easy ways for viewers to decide whether or not they'd like to engage further with the video by turning the sound on. Auto-captions will now be available for Twitter videos, automatically turned on for all videos uploaded on iOS and Android, while desktop users can switch them on and off manually. Currently Twitter video captions are available in 37 languages.

Update from December 7th

In a bid to join other top social platforms like Instagram and TikTok in a "video first" mentality, Pinterest recently announced that it would be acquiring video editing app, Vochi. According to Vochi CEO & Founder: "The Vochi app gives creators the ability to apply high quality effects based on computer vision on objects in a video instantly...These technologies are unique in the industry, and we're excited to bring them to an even larger audience as a part of the Pinterest team."

Although the old roundup style from YouTube is still on ice due to negative feedback in recent years, YouTube has still provided those who are curious with some top trends and YouTube creators from the past year. The selections are divided into 5 sections: Trending Videos, Music Videos, Top Creators, Breakout Creators, Shorts Creators, plus an additional section highlighting featured creators from a Livestream event Escape2021. From the results, it's clear that gaming, music, and vlogging remain popular, but the TikTok format is also becoming more popular in the YouTube Shorts community.

New features are now available to users on LinkedIn using Creator Mode, including Live Videos and Newsletters. Creator mode is an option for LinkedIn users who use the platform beyond core networking. Per LinkedIn: "LinkedIn creators are members who regularly share content with their professional community to demonstrate their expertise, ignite conversations about ideas and experiences, and build communities around common interests." These power users and thought leaders now have access to create LinkedIn Lives and authoring Newsletters that get seen by your followers through automated emails. These features are already available to business pages with 150+ followers.

Messenger has been making some significant updates and changes throughout the year to elevate it's experience for users. Their most recent addition includes AR features, new sound-mojis, including one from Taylor Swift and one celebrating popular Netflix series Stranger Things. Most notably however, is a Venmo-esque payment option that Messenger is testing called "Split Payments."

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Social Media News: The 5 Biggest Stories of the Week - marketscreener.com

Social media is used basically for social interaction, access to news and information, and decision making.

Over the past five decades, the means of communication in Nigeria has steadily progressed from the traditional postal services and optical fiber technology in Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) to the era of the internet.

Like the rest of the developed world, Nigeria had its modest hut in the global web village by the early 2000s. These include blogs, microblogs, wikis, social networking sites, photo-sharing sites, instant messaging, video-sharing sites, podcasts, widgets, and virtual worlds.

Users can hold conversations, share information, and produce web content on the social media sites.

Thus, Nigerians were able to communicate with the outside world in fields including business and academics and through the eras social platforms.

The publics acceptance of social media has grown to the point that most businesses and organizations have used the platform to obtain competitive benefits.

What appeals to individuals is that it offers a greater chance of effective information digestion, i.e., it sends out appropriate and direct short messages to its audience in a way that facilitates content absorption.

Apart from social connectedness and influence, social media is rapidly displacing traditional business tools such as marketing, advertisement, profiling, and so on. This is because cybercitizens spend a significant amount of time using the cyberspace domain for nearly everything. For a competitive advantage, many brands are shifting to social networking platforms.

Furthermore, social media is globally fuelling a people-driven democracy with liberty and freedom of participation, which is beginning to alter our personal and professional economic, political, social, and relational draperies.

Cyberspace has resulted in a socially connected digital society due to the evolution of the internet, information systems, and networks, as well as peoples mobility and receptiveness.

Read also:Emerging Africa Group sees tech, media, communication attracting new investment in 2022

Social media thus plays an essential role in peoples life as a significant proportion of Nigerians have adopted several platforms to express their opinion.

Statistics from digital 2021 shows that of the over 205 million population in Nigeria, there were over 104 million internet users and 33 million (15.8 percent of the total population) social media users in Nigeria in 2021. The report shows that internet users in Nigeria increased by 19 million between 2020 and 2021, while social media users increased by 6 million.

Also, mobile connections in Nigeria increased by 17 million between 2020 and 2021 to 187.9 million. The access to the internet was highest (70 percent) among young Nigerians between ages 16 to 35. This number is high because many people have more than one phone or device connected to the internet.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) network data report of 2020, there was an increase in subscribers total volume of data from 123,648TB in December 2019 to 205880.4TB in December 2020. This shows about a 67 percent increase year on year in the volume of subscriptions. The increase may be due to the pandemic shock, which caused restriction of movement and resulted in the disruption of many activities, thereby constraining many activities online.

Using the average cost of N487.18 per 1GB data, as suggested by NCC, Nigerians spent not less than N100 billion on internet data.

Many Nigerian youths who are the primary users of the internet and technology services are propelling this widespread internet usage.

In Nigeria, it is a norm now for people to surf the internet. Most Nigerians that have access to the internet use it for social networking sites/applications. These include professional networking sites (such as LinkedIn), social photo and video sharing platforms (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram), and blogs and news outlets covering social, political, entertainment, and lifestyle issues often utilized platforms.

Furthermore, the report on Statista as of the Q3 of 2020 shows that WhatsApp has the highest percentage of the most used social media in Nigeria, with 93 percent, while Facebook is second with 86.2 percent, YouTube (81.6 percent), Instagram (73.1 percent), Twitter (61.4 percent), Pinterest (26.8 percent), LinkedIn (32.8 percent), and Skype (12.1 percent) among others.

The report also shows that Nigerians spend close to 4 hours on social media and approximately 5 hours on the internet daily.

The constant usage of social media has undeniably disrupted our daily habits and activities, and it is now embedded in our daily routine. Whether stuck in traffic, at the airport, in a classroom, on a lunch break, or even secretly at a boardroom meeting, millions of Nigerians constantly find solace in the escape known as social media.

The utilization of platforms with large audiences comes with several challenges. However, if proper checks are not put in place, the risks may exceed the benefits.

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The cons of social media may outweigh the pros in Nigeria (1) - Businessday.ng