We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #683 Mashup 22 Jul 2024 YouTube tests AI radio and rolls out song recognition tool  YouTube is testing a new AI-generated radio feature for select Premium users in the U.S. The feature will create custom radio stations through text prompts based on what they want to hear – for example, “catchy pop choruses” or “upbeat anthems”. For those with access, a card will appear on the home feed with “Ask for music any way you like” which opens a conversation tab to enter the prompt. Image credit: YouTube YouTube is also adding a song recognition feature in its sear ..read more

The Feed: Soothing sport content, cowboy carter and edating The Feed 18 Jul 2024 The Feed (@thefeed.global) is powered by We Are Social’s Cultural Insights team. We’re diving into the top three posts from the month so far – trends include sports brands creating soothing content, the BeyHive supporting Beyoncé’s Country music career, and edating blurring the lines between on and offline romance. Read on to find out what they all mean, and why they’ve been taking over our social feeds. Sports brands are using soothing edits to help zone fans in ”This is so ✨aesthetic✨” reads a fan comment on ..read more

We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #681 Mashup 8 Jul 2024 noplace hits No.1 on the App Store New social media app noplace hit the No.1 spot on the App Store last week. The platform was previously invite-only but since opening to the public, downloads have soared. The text-only platform uses AI to feed users the most relevant updates based on their interests. The app has two feeds, one with your friends and the other a global feed from everyone using the app. Aimed at Gen Z users, the app has been described as a ‘modern day Myspace’ with accounts having profiles, badges, top 8 friends lists and c ..read more

Celebrating Pride at We Are Social People & Culture 3 Jul 2024 This June we celebrated Pride month with a mix of activities throughout the month, including an insightful Lunch & Learn panel, celebrating our favourite LGBTQ+ icons and having a blast at our Pride social.  Celebrating LGBTQ+ icons ? We asked the agency to share their inspirational LGBTQ+ icons and why they mean so much to them. We shared these on our Instagram Stories throughout June – make sure to check them out on our People highlight. We also sat down with some of the agency to talk more about their icons on Ti ..read more

We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #680 Mashup 1 Jul 2024 Pinterest users can now turn boards into videos Pinterest will now allow users to create videos of their Pinterest boards. The feature was launched after Gen Z Pinterest users were seen manually sharing their boards on TikTok by posting screenshots or using the green screen effect. Pinterest named this type of sharing “mecore” and found that it has led to a 565% increase in searches. Boards titled “mecore” have also increased by 255% since last year.  The new feature will allow Pinterest users to directly share their boards on other ..read more

We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #679 Mashup 24 Jun 2024 TikTok introduces new AI avatars and translation tools TikTok is introducing generative AI avatars of creators and stock actors for ads. Creators will have control over how their likeness is used, who can use the avatars and how much they charge. The ‘Custom Avatars’ will be multilingual and help brands to run global campaigns. There are also ‘Stock Avatars’ which are pre-built and created based on paid actors who are licensed for commercial use. These avatars are being introduced to bring a human touch to brands’ content.  Image cr ..read more

We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #678 Mashup 17 Jun 2024 Pinterest is expanding its Ad Labs programme  As part of its Ad Labs programme, Pinterest is adding new AI features to its ad offerings. Firstly, it’s testing AI-powered ad campaigns called ‘Performance+’. These ads will provide advertisers with more ways to optimise their ads through an automated process. The AI system will use its algorithm knowledge to create ads and match audiences suitable to the campaign. In the initial testing, Pinterest said advertisers saw improvement in campaign results and that the tools significantly dec ..read more

POV: What it means to be LGBTQ+ in adland People & Culture 4 Jun 2024 This Pride month we asked members of our LGBTQ+ community about their experiences in adland and how being LGBTQ+ impacts their work. Take a look at what they shared. Cat Holbrook, People & Culture Coordinator In what ways does being LGBTQ+ positively impact your work?  I believe the community thrives on openness and support, and that’s how I strive to show up to work every day—authentically myself. Have you got a favourite campaign that has supported the LGBTQ+ community? Throughout Australia’s Pride peri ..read more

We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #676 Mashup 3 Jun 2024 Instagram is testing unskippable video ads  Instagram is testing a new video ad format that cannot be scrolled past until the user has watched the video. Labelled as an ‘ad break’, users will need to watch the video until the timer at the bottom of the ad has run out. Image credit: @thedanlevy on Threads As you can see in this example, Instagram explains that ‘ad breaks’ are a new way of viewing ads on the platform and that ‘sometimes’ you will need to watch the ad before you can keep scrolling. The feature is still in the testing pr ..read more

We Are Social’s Tuesday Tune up #675 Mashup 28 May 2024 TikTok announces a range of updates  TikTok is launching a new “creative AI suite” called “Symphony”, which incorporates TikTok’s existing AI tools in one place. Symphony will be able to help with writing scripts, producing videos, brainstorming ideas, and more. TikTok has also announced a space for its marketing tools called “TikTok One”. The new space will give brands easy access to tools such as creators, production partners, and insights. Image credit: TikTok TikTok is also improving its predictive AI tools for ad targeting. I ..read more