Tag: Social Media

Singapore – The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has issued the ‘Code of Practice for Online Safety’, which mitigates risk of harmful social media content to Singaporeans, especially to children. In addition, the new code has also instructed platforms to not serve advertisements to accounts owned by children.

The categories of harmful content covered by the code are: sexual content, violent content, suicide and self-harm content, cyberbullying content, content endangering public health, and content facilitating vice and organised crime.

Through the new safety code, IMDA has ordered online platforms to apply age-appropriate policies to accounts belonging to children, including having a set of community guidelines appropriate for children, content moderation, and online safety information that children can easily understand. 

Moreover, local users will be empowered with tools to manage their own safety. These may include tools to hide harmful content and unwanted interactions, limit location sharing and the visibility of their accounts from other users.

“Tackling the threat of harmful online content is a global issue which requires a whole-of-society effort. The Singapore Government has strengthened our regulatory framework and will continue its efforts in ensuring that regulatory and public education measures can address the growing range of harmful online content and protect Singapore users against online harms. IMDA will continue to work closely with SMSs to enhance Singapore’s Online Safety,” IMDA said in a statement.

India – With Meta’s new microblogging social app Threads reaching an all-time high of more than 150 million downloads in total during its first week, India is said to be the leading force in contributing to the success of Threads, accounting for approximately 32% of its total downloads globally, according to data revealed by data science agency data.ai Intelligence. 

Until now, the origin of Threads installations has been limited to a single global figure. The app has established the largest footprint in India, which has accounted for about 32% of its downloads.

Indian consumers have been known to flock first to new social platforms in the past, with ByteDance’s TikTok becoming a cultural phenomenon there before it ceased operating in the country. At the same time, India is also Twitter’s second-largest market in terms of both lifetime downloads and monthly active users.

The report also found that besides India with 32% of global downloads, other major contributors to Threads downloads hail from Brazil with 22%, the United States with 16%, Mexico with 8%, and Japan with 5%.

Australia – With popular singer-songwriter Taylor Swift announcing its ‘The Eras Tour’ world tour, social media mentioned about her have spiked across influencers and brands in Australia, following growing demand for tickets of said concert in the region. This was according to the latest data from influencer marketing platform HypeAuditor.

According to the data, there were 182 social media posts with mentions of the Anti-Hero on Instagram that were shared by a total of 133 influencers, reaching an audience of over 10.7 million people.

The data also noted two events in June that contributed to the social media mention spike. The first was on June 20 when the news broke that the megastar was bringing her ‘Eras Tour’ to Australia. This was then followed by an even bigger spike on June 28 when concert promoter Frontier Touring opened their pre-sale tickets, which saw more than 4 million eager fans across the country attempting to secure tickets.

In terms of social media engagement, social media posts about the American pop idol performed particularly well achieving an average engagement rate (ER) of 3.5% with a total of 477,242 likes and 9,598 comments throughout the month. Meanwhile, ER on Instagram shows how good the quality of the posts is and how well an account interacts with its followers.

Some of the top brands mentioning Taylor Swift include beauty brand Mecca Beauty, stationary brand Typo, retail chain Myer, media entities 7News and Guardian, and women-centric media Mamamia.

Alex Frolov, CEO and co-founder at HypeAuditor, said, “The hype around Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has been building up globally for the past three months with Swifties sharing videos and photos of the show on social media reaching billions of people around the world. Globally there have been 22,951 posts on Instagram mentioning Taylor Swift, reaching 230 million people since the start of her international tour in March 2023.”

He added, “An ER of 3.5% is a reflection of the calibre of the singer’s fandom and how engaged Swifties are. Regardless of who is posting about Taylor Swift on social media, the posts are likely to generate likes and comments. It’s not surprising that brands have also been jumping on the bandwagon to increase their reach and engagement with their followers. It will not stop here. We expect more brands to milk the Taylor Swift mania with themed sales, promo codes, outfit suggestions, etc up until the Aussie shows in February 2023, as a way to increase their visibility and extend their reach.”

New York, USA – With legacy blue verification marks disappearing on Twitter, the platform has instead launched a paid verification service called ‘Twitter Blue’, charged at US$8. But even with such a feature, more Twitter users are more likely to quit the platform than pay for the service, according to web analytics company SimilarWeb.

According to their latest insights, during the month of March, more than 1.1 million Twitter users deactivated their accounts, compared with about 116,000 who confirmed a signup for Twitter Blue.

For this month of April, Twitter Blue signups peaked at about 6,600 on April 2, compared with about 38,700 account deactivations that same day.

Sentiments related to quitting Twitter were already high during the months of October and November last year, the time when the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk has been processed.

Lastly, account deactivations have spiked around the time Elon Musk took control of Twitter, at about 88,900 on November 20, but have since subsided, averaging less than 35,700 per day in March. However, in the first three months of 2023, Twitter web and app engagement fell on a year-over-year basis.

California, USA – Aimed at helping creators connect further with their audience, tech giant Meta has unveiled new features on Instagram Reels, including a dashboard that displays what’s trending on Reels.

The Reels Trends feature allows creators to see the top trending songs on Reels, see how many times the audio has been used, and save the audio for use. It also displays what the top trending topics and hashtags are on Reels to keep creators up-to-date on the latest trends. 

Meta has also improved Instagram Reels Insights to help creators better understand how their content is performing by adding two new metrics: total watch time and average watch time – making it easier for creators to see their reels’ insights while viewing them directly. Creators will also be able to receive a notification with new followers from their reels. 

Instagram Reels will also be seeing new improvements in sending gifts, with the feature’s upcoming expansions to more markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK, in the coming weeks.

“We’re also adding a new feature to show you which fans have sent you a gift so you can recognize your supporters. If you tap the heart icon next to your supporters, they’ll get a notification that you’ve seen and recognized their gift, providing an even stronger sense of connection between you and your fans,” the release read.

Lastly, Meta has also made it easier for creators to edit reels, by bringing together video clips, audio, stickers, and text on a unified editing screen. According to Meta, the development makes it easier to align and time elements of reels to the right moments in a more visual way.

“Creators like you inspire people and shape everyday culture. We’re committed to building more products to help you grow and thrive on Instagram, and today’s updates are just a few of the ways we’re investing in your success,” Meta concluded.

Last February, Meta has also rolled out a new broadcast channel for Instagram and a paid verification service for both Facebook and Instagram users, ‘Meta Verified’.

Singapore – Marriott Bonvoy, the loyalty program of hospitality company Marriott International, has appointed Grey Group Singapore as its social media agency for Asia-Pacific, excluding China.

Through the social media mandate, Grey Singapore will promote Marriott Bonvoy’s brand promise through engaging social content, while offering strategic counsel and guidance on brand strategy. 

The account will be led by Shawn Low, head of social at Grey Singapore. Low has deep knowledge in the travel sector, having previously worked for global travel brand Lonely Planet. He also co-founded a London-based travel tech company Firef.ly.

Speaking on this new agency win, he said, “Marriott Bonvoy is one of the world’s best travel loyalty programs that covers an impressive portfolio of 30 brands across the globe. With nearly 8,300 properties in its portfolio and countless bars and restaurants, the brand literally has something for almost every traveller. We are passionate about making Marriott’s presence on social media felt through innovative and captivating content.”

Meanwhile, Nick Barger, senior director of media for APEC at Marriott International said, “As travel stages its triumphant return in 2023, travellers are reignited to deepen their experiences and explore more destinations. With 30 extraordinary hotel brands and endless experiences, Marriott Bonvoy’s mission on social media is to share the stories of good travel through inspiring and engaging content.” 

He added, “Grey’s strong vision in elevating Marriott Bonvoy through innovative and impactful content stood out and fit perfectly with our creative approach. We are excited for this partnership to further strengthen our storytelling to inspire travel in APEC and beyond.”

The new agency win comes after the recent merger of Grey Singapore and Grey Malaysia in 2022.

Irene Wong, CEO of Grey Group Singapore and Malaysia, said, “We’re excited to embark on this journey with Marriott Bonvoy. As restrictions loosen and travel resumes, we are committed to fulfilling Marriott’s purpose of connecting people through the power of travel. This win also further reaffirms Grey’s belief in the importance of creativity in connecting a brand to its audience.”

Manila, Philippines – An online map website generator that lets users keep track of which provinces they have visited across the Philippines has recently been all over Filipinos’ social media feeds. Several local brands in the country were quick to jump onto the trend and chart their own proof of Philippine jet setting — or rather something else – a witty jab at the map visualisation if you will. 

The website, created by Singapore-based Filipino software developer Denz Del Villar, allows users to generate a map of the Philippines – a personal and colour-coded representation of the various provinces the user has either lived in, stayed, visited, passed, or alighted from. Using these metrics, the map also generates a numberical level determined by the nature of these visits. Each category selected – whether lived or passed on – carries a numerical score, and when added up, results into the travel level of the user.

Following its virality, audiences see local brands do their own trend jacking one after the other. A huge amount of these social media posts come from several banks in the country, both traditional and digital banks. Banks such as LandBank, MetroBank, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and GoTyme Bank have posted their own take on the map.

Meanwhile, popular convenience store chain 7-Eleven also jumped into the bandwagon. 

In more wittier posts, fast food chain McDonald’s took on the trend, replacing the levels with what users can ‘expect’ from their chains in different provinces. Even local pharmaceutical company Katinko also posted a witty post using the map template, showing that all aunts and uncles across the country have used their products.

Katinko Social Media Post
McDonald’s Social Media Post

Meanwhile, entertainment entities have also joined in the fun. The popular public affairs show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho from GMA Network shows that their team had already visited all of the provinces across the country to cover feature stories. Moreover, the local band Ben&Ben has also joined in the trend, showcasing which provinces they already performed in. 

Ben&Ben Social Media Post
Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho Social Media Post

However, not all brands that crafted their own take on the map were received in a positive light. A social media post by land developer Camella Homes, which used such template to showcase the provinces they have current land developments,has inadvertently caused a backlash. Many netizens pointed out that some of the lands being used by were formerly agricultural lands, more specifically rice fields. The social media post has been deleted since.

Manila, Philippines – Around 53% of Twitter users in the country have said that the social media platform is a driving force to promote freedom of speech in the country, according to the latest study from Milieu Insight.

The data also noted that 43% said that Twitter serves as a safe space for others to express their own opinions. Furthermore, 26% said it allows users to gain knowledge, with 21% saying that the platform serves as a space for healthy debates or conversations.

When asked about what they think of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, 49% thought it was neither good nor bad. Meanwhile, 31% saw it as somewhat good with an 11% identifying it as actual good news. On the other hand, 5% said it was somewhat bad news, with 3% saying, without reservations, it was definitely bad news.

In terms of reduced censorship measures in the platform, 43% states that it will benefit others in a positive way, whilst 22% had no opinion of said changes, and 20% expressing being uncomfortable with said changes.

Following that, when asked about how Twitter’s censorship policy will affect free speech, 51% of the respondents note some form of positive impact on the platform, whilst 24% saying otherwise , and 11% affirming that there is no impact at all.

Lastly, in terms of the impact of the Twitter censorship on hate speech, 45% believed it had some form of positive impact, with the other 29% saying the complete opposite – a negative impact. Meanwhile, 12% think there was no impact at all.

Global – Social media giant Facebook has announced that its Messenger feature will now be reunited with the main social media application after nine years of being a standalone messaging app.

It can be noted that in 2014, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the messaging feature will be separated from Facebook, requiring users to separately download the messaging application for a ‘better experience’.

In a blog post, Facebook Head Tom Alison said that they are testing the ability of the users to access Messenger inbox within the Facebook application, and this will be expanded soon.

“Over the coming year, we’ll build more ways to integrate messaging features in Facebook. Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether in the Messenger app or directly within Facebook,” Alison added.

Alison also reassures that Facebook is not dead nor dying, whilst implying that it remains to have 2 billion daily active users.

Aside from the reintegration, Facebook has also announced that it will also invest in artificial intelligence for better delivery of content, whilst supporting the creators to get a wider audience and monetisation opportunities.

Earlier this year, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta has announced new features for both platforms which are a broadcast channel for Instagram and Meta Verified, a paid verification service for both platforms.

Singapore – Around 77% of marketers in Asia-Pacific, or 3 out of 5 APAC marketers, have said that they intend to increase or dedicate the same budget to social media amidst economic uncertainty this year. This is according to the latest research from media monitoring and social listening platform Meltwater.

According to the data, around 42% are currently running a social listening programme and an additional 15% plan to do so in 2023. Moreover, around 64% of the respondents have the goal of improving their understanding of audiences and target groups.

In terms of the social media platforms that dominate the APAC social media landscape, Facebook led the list, with 87% of marketers using it. They are followed by Instagram (81%), Linkedin (81%), Youtube (64%), and Twitter (50%). Comparatively, TikTok has yet to be leveraged at the same rate, with only 29% using the platform.

Mimrah Mahmood, senior director and partner at Meltwater Asia-Pacific, explains that the average internet user actively uses about 7.2 social media platforms each month, hence audiences are not always where you expect and marketers should now have stronger social listening tools to find and understand users.

“With a huge amount of consumer data available these days, it is now possible to segment audiences in far more sophisticated ways. Marketers need to go beyond demographics and look at communities. Social media data can reveal how people form ‘digital tribes’ based on their shared attitudes, behaviours, and interests, allowing marketers to make more strategic decisions,” Mahmood said.

In terms of the rise of short-form content in the region, Mahmood said, “Short-form videos such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are effective new formats that marketers should incorporate moving forward. In 2024, we expect to see more social commerce features, including paid ads, and purchase capabilities woven into these formats in response to consumers seeking more seamless shopping experiences.”