The Week in Social: IG Explorer Ads, FB Content Oversight, and more

Get ready for Instagram Explore ads

The last ad-free refuge of Instagram, nay most social platforms, must be Instagram’s Explore tab. The Explore tab is our refuge when we want to chill out in the comforting dive bar of analytic-driven content. But, no more. Starting with promotions for IGTV, Instagram is bringing ads to the Explore tab. Thankfully, new ads will only appear when users open an item and begin scrolling.

Twitter lists are coming back!

By and large, social platforms do a fine job of understanding our politics, our image preferences, the people we read, and the topics we consume. However, when we seek specific content, especially news content from a diverse yet curated set of sources, social platforms still miss the mark. Twitter Lists is a panacea for solving the relevance problem. Previously buried deep within the mobile UI, it seems it’s coming back to the top. Researchers rejoice!

Facebook Showcase glitch

If you took advantage of a Showcase video ad on Facebook recently, you may have noticed your campaign performance came up short. You’re not alone. Showcase ads appear on Facebook Watch, the platform’s premium video channel. Due to some teething issues, several Showcase campaigns under-performed on campaign effectiveness. Facebook has reported that the problem has been solved.

Facebook moves on content oversight

Whether it’s deep fakes, hate speech, election meddling, or flat out false reporting, Facebook is struggling to find a best practice for censoring content. At this week’s Aspen Ideas Festival, Mark Zuckerberg announced his newest moderation initiative. Facebook will be forming an independent oversight board to weigh in on hard questions. Is a deep fake video a form of artistic expression? Is a misleading edit of an interview equate fake news? Answers to come.

Censoring hate speech where it’s needed

Facebook’s content oversight board is welcome news. In Myanmar and Sri Lanka, anti-Muslim posts helped normalize hatred in local Facebook communities. Most often, the posts violated Facebook’s community standards, but they were left up for hours while real violence was visited on local homes and businesses. Facebook’s ability to act quickly when digital threats become real actions is still developing.

POTUS: sue Social Media

The President of the United States suggested that the government should sue Google, Twitter, and Facebook. To that end, he inferred the companies should be held accountable for impeding the President’s message. Members of the world’s largest tech companies repeatedly state that nobody is skewing the news. However, we still favor Congressman Ted Lieu’s remedy. “If you want positive search results, do positive things. If you don’t want negative search results, don’t do negative things.”

Banning facial recognition

The 4th Amendment is the closest link U.S. citizens have to an explicit right to privacy. Constitutional debates lead to the subject of “a reasonable expectation of privacy”. Famously, Katz v. United States established that a person can expect their actions to be private, even while in a public place. San Francisco, CA and Sommerville, MA passed city ordinances against using facial recognition technology. The move protects citizens, but such precedents will also impact advertising tech in the future.

Meme creators get paid

Imgur likes memes. In fact, Imgur lives on memes. But to date, the meme creators have been left out in the cold. While they watch their creations take hold across the internet, creators must sit back with no reward, no recognition, and no additional rent money. Imgur is partnering with micro-payment platform Coil to fix the compensation problem.

Beauty filter dysmorphia

Once, people used pictures of celebrities to convey their aspirations to plastic surgeons. Now, patients are more apt to provide a selfie with a social channel beauty filter. Some social influencers are fighting back against glamification by embracing flaws. And, as Jess Joho shares, filters aren’t fooling anybody anyway.

Image: Iskra

The Week in Social: Explorer Ads, Face Recognition, and Filter Dysmorphia