We’re seeing tons of new AI integrations in social media. Some of this is overt, as in Discord’s new trio of bots that offer a variety of services ranging from having a good conversation to helping moderate a chat. Others are more subtle and are used behind the scenes, like in Facebook’s new updates, to encourage suggestions rather than as an active feature for users to interact with.
Let’s dive in and see what else is new this week.
tick tock
TikTok is launching a new longer-form video option called Series.
According to the app, creators can upload up to 80 20-minute videos behind a pay-per-view wall. The creators will set the price point.
The YouTube meets Patreon feature appears to be designed to give creators an influencer stream outside of branded stores or the fairly marginal Creator Fund revenue. It also shows that, as much as other apps are chasing TikTok, TikTok is starting to incorporate some elements of the longer, more traditional videos found on YouTube and other video apps, while adding a twist of its own.
However, TikTok is also blocking individual users’ ability to link to the App Store, TechCrunch reported. However, businesses will continue to use the feature and will even gain access to a new Download App button.
discord
Discord, a community-based social media platform popular with gamers, is integrating more AI into their chat rooms.
An existing chatbot called Clyde will be beefed up with additional OpenAI technology, Discord said in a blog post. Users can now chat directly with Clyde and get him to recommend playlists, GIFs, or just turn the breeze.
For privacy reasons, Clyde will not be feeding data back to OpenAI to train its generative models.
Another existing AI, AutoMod, will also use AI to “learn” a server’s rules and alert moderators if they think one has been broken, using context to make the call.
Finally, you can use AI to quickly summarize conversations for brevity.
Reddit is scrapping one feature and introducing another.
Reddit will say goodbye to Reddit Talk, its social audio product that took a page from the Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces books. The product expires on March 21st.
However, in an interesting move, Reddit will offer two new versions of its home feed: Watch, which will prioritize video content, and Read, which will provide more written content based on what users are keen on.
Meta
In a blog post, Facebook CEO Tom Allison outlined future plans for the grand dame of social media. First, the AI will also do more to inform Facebook’s algorithmic suggestions, although details are sparse.
The bigger news, however, is that Facebook will be bringing some aspects of Messenger back into the main app after moving that feature to a separate app.
“Over the coming year, we will continue to develop ways to integrate messaging capabilities into Facebook. Ultimately, we want it to be easy and convenient for people to connect and share, whether it’s on the Messenger app or directly on Facebook,” Allison wrote.
youtube
YouTube is reversing a November rule that made it harder to monetize obscene content on the platform. The new rules separate profanity into “moderate” and “severe” categories. Moderate profanity can be monetized even if used early in the video or used throughout. Heavier profanity (remember the F-word) has some restrictions based on whether or not it occurs in the first 7 seconds of the video or throughout the content.
Which updates are you most interested in? What do you think of the growing importance of AI in social media?
Allison Carter is the Editor-in-Chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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