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The week in social: Facebook Dating, YouTube fashion, and NFL on TikTok

09 Sep 2019 Vincent Varney

The week in social

Facebook Dating becomes official

Prepare to slide into some DMs, because Facebook dating in now available in 20 countries. Like Tinder, the service takes a yea-or-nay approach to screening potential partners, along with a few novel features. Secret Crush, for example, lets you confess to longing for one of your Facebook friends, and if the feeling is mutual, you’ll both get notified. And of course, there will be Stories. Because you can’t release an app these days without Stories.

YouTube is changing data collection practices on kids’ content

Major changes to the way data is collected on children’s YouTube content are coming. Off the back of a settlement with the United States’ Federal Trade Commission, the streaming company has announced that it’ll assume any viewer of kids’ content is themselves a child, limiting data collection and monetization opportunities. As this will have negative financial impacts on creators, YouTube has pledged $100 million to fund family content over the next three years.

Fashion gets its own YouTube portal

The most stylish channels on YouTube are finally getting the recognition they deserve with a /fashion portal. Much like /sports and /gaming before it, this new vertical aims to be a one-stop destination for all things fashion and beauty, be it streams of runways shows or behind-the-scenes clips from the biggest publishers. It’s no surprise that YouTube has given this kind of content its own spotlight, with the video giant noting that the number of fashion and beauty channels increase six-fold between 2014 and 2018.

NFL kicks off content deal with… TikTok?

While La Liga and Major League Baseball broadcasts have started coming to YouTube and Facebook, the National Football League has opted for a trick play with its newly-announced TikTok partnership. The multi-year pact will see the NFL distribute content on the platform to a global audience. Don’t expect full games, however, with the deal covering only short-form video such as highlights and sideline footage – it is TikTok, after all.