Dream Machine AI video, creator insights on IG, and π hides the likes
Luma AI puts π in a chokehold, new study shows how Americans consume news on social, π hides likes, and more June updates for online creators.
Happy Monday evening, friends π
Iβve got lots of spicy takes, interesting platform stats, and memebait for you below.
The the highlights in this weekβs edition:
π» Luma AI's 'Dream Machine' video generator
βΈοΈ Meta's AI rollout paused in Europe
π° How Americans consume news on social media
π IG tests a 'Creator Insights' analytics feature for brands
π¬ YouTube's AI-powered live chat topic sorting
π π profile likes are now private
π π gets new premium analytics for subscribers
Donβt forget to unplug and get your enrichment time in.
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AI & industry news
Luma AIβs βDream Machineβ is the latest worthy contender for best AI video
Luma AI dropped Dream Machine last week, a free open text-to-video model that lets you generate high-quality, realistic videos from text prompts or images. The quality is pretty impressive, with the announcement disrupting timelines in AI communities everywhere. Itβs positioned as a "universal imagination engine" capable of creating complex video concepts like storyboards, memes, music videos, and eventually full-length movies β which Iβm sure Hollywood is loving.
So far, Dream Machine is getting lots of hype for its ability to render specific objects, characters, actions, and environments while maintaining fluid motion and coherent storytelling. To try it, sign up on the Luma Labs website here (users get 10 free video generations per day).
π Metaβs AI rollout hits a pause in Europe. Meta just paused its AI chatbot launch in Europe after data watchdogs called them out for sourcing user data to train its AI models (true). Meta said it's all above board but the Irish Data Protection Commission isn't buying it β at least not yet. Knowing what we know about the strict data laws in Europe, it wouldnβt be surprising if European users will need to give explicit consent before their content gets fed to Metaβs AI machine.
platform updates
New study: How US users consume news on social media
(A study of TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram)
I get so hype for new reports and research from sources like eMarketer, Pew, and IAB β especially when itβs about platforms and trends I care about. I canβt and wonβt explain my fascination for structured information in the form of reports and graphs, but I will break down the highlights from the latest.
The new study from Pew Research Center focused on how Americans consume news on TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram. The findings are interesting β and it matters if you create content or care about the behaviors, preferences, and media habits of social media users (aka every marketer ever).
ποΈ X leads as the go-to platform for news. While most Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok users don't go on these apps primarily for news, they still stumble upon plenty of news content like opinions, humor pieces, articles, and breaking updates. X is the exception β most users are there for news, with about half regularly getting their news fix on the platform. Maybe Elon wasnβt so crazy with his town square ideology all along??
π― Friends and influencers fuel news spread. Facebook and Instagram users tend to get their news from friends, family, and acquaintances. But on TikTok, influencers and strangers are more likely to be the news sources β which speaks to the platformβs highly favorable (and coveted) discovery algorithm. X stands out as the place to go for news straight from outlets and journalists themselves.
π¨ Fear of fake news is rampant on every platform. Itβs not just Facebook or X. Inaccurate news is a common sight across all platforms, especially on X and Facebook. Democrats are more distrusting of X news accuracy, while Republicans view Facebook's news with more skepticism. Most users feel like platforms control which stories they see, especially on Facebook and Instagram β which tracks, tbh.
π TikTok and X serve up new/unique perspectives. TikTok and X users are more likely to encounter news perspectives they wouldnβt naturally stumble upon elsewhere compared to Facebook and Instagram.
π© News fatigue is real. Over half of Facebook, X, and Instagram news viewers sometimes feel overwhelmed by the constant stream of news. The news fatigue is reportedly highest among Democrats on X. Go figure.
Meta
π€ Streamlining the creator x brand relationship. Instagram is testing a new "Creator Insights" feature (screenshot below) which Iβm personally stoked for. It lets creators share their analytics so brand accounts can view certain performance metrics i.e. follower growth, reach, and engagement from the past 30 days.
The goal: to make creators more appealing ($$) to brands for paid campaigns while giving brands more first-party visibility into the creators they want to collaborate with. Creators can choose to share this data, similar to IG Creator Marketplace, so if youβre in a content slump, you can turn it off. But if youβre hitting a stride and want to highlight your metrics to brands, this feature can do that. Itβs a win-win and Iβm excited to test it.
YouTube
π§Ή A more organized live chat experience. YouTube is testing a new feature that uses AI to automatically sort live chat comments into different topic groups during a stream. The goal is to make it easier for viewers to quickly understand the main discussions happening and jump into the conversations they're interested in. For creators, youβll be able to more easily see what's sparking the most chat activity, which could be useful for future content or live interaction.
π (formerly Twitter)
π Like are now private. It finally happened β X made all likes private, hiding who liked what from public view. It means you can no longer stalk your ex-lover, celebrity crush, or former coworker's βlikedβ posts. (FWIW, people have been fired for liking posts, soβ¦ yay privacy?)
π Fancy new analytics have arrived. But only X Premium members can use it. The new analytics revamp shows you stats like how many people saw your posts and videos. Hereβs what it looks like:
sauce snippets
Stray news and trends from the internet β¨
Hands up for the βsilence X, a Y is talkingβ meme
Pinterest introduces new AI tools for creative and performance
Stock-obsessed Gen Z are using astrology and tarot to invest β and swearing by the results
LinkedIn has new tools for newsletter creation and an updated reader UI
Famous Birthdays wants to be the Wikipedia for Gen Z
TikTok ads may soon contain AI-generated avatars of your favorite creators
Engineers in China are developing humanoid robots with facial expressions and emotions
If you saw a typo, no you didnβt.
The issue of how we consume news on platforms is not only important to follow because of how we relate to how things change and how they happen in the world, but also because the methods of interaction and use of content constantly change, especially depending on the platforms . In Italy and in Europe in general, for example, there is an increasing proliferation of 'communicators' who explain the news in depth and give great value to going to the merits of the issues and not stopping at the headlines, eroding the audience and revenues from large magazines and media which instead focus - as a business model - on having the greatest possible number of contents to attract people to the advertising they host in various ways. Furthermore, it is interesting to see the insights relating to the perceived 'uniqueness' of TikTok and feet of X is something that honestly surprised me a little. However, I think the X team still needs to make some important considerations about partnerships with creators and its identity as a social network. I recently saw an interesting fact about how Facebook is slowly attracting millenials, after having become for some 'the social network for boomers'. Thanks for a lot of interesting stuff in this issue!