According to TechCrunch, the app expected to launch this summer will stand on its own, but will be partially integrated within Instagram (owned, like Facebook, by Meta). “Users will keep their Instagram verification and handle, and all of their followers will receive a notification to follow them on the to-be-named platform. Meta’s text-based platform will be decentralized and interoperable with Mastodon, which is built on the ActivityPub protocol,” the article on TechCrunch says.

In a letter to a select group of creators, Meta acknowledges that competitors like Mastodon and Bluesky have head starts in the race to possibly supplant Twitter, but says Meta already possesses a successful family of apps, through which billions of users would be able to access its newest venture.

Lia Haberman, a professor of social and influencer marketing at UCLA and one of the users privy to a peek at the new product, allows that it looks a lot like Twitter and notes that preferences on Instagram—blocked accounts, hidden words—would carry over to this new platform.

MoneyControl reports that the new app is code-named P92; a financial tech professional said on Twitter that it may be called Instagram Notes.

While some people might have Twitter-alternative fatigue, Meta’s entry in the field has its strengths. Instagram users probably wouldn’t have to set up a new account, and depending on how much it’s integrated with Instagram, becoming active might feel more approachable, especially if users can automatically retain their Instagram following on the new app—it won’t be like starting from scratch. Plus, while many Instagram users are not active on Twitter, this potential crossover alleviates the burden of toggling between separate platforms. There’s something to be said for one-stop shopping, not just for individuals but for brands especially.

Meta’s competitor is expected to roll out in June of this year, so a potentially viable Twitter alternative isn’t at all far away. As for whether or not it sticks—or goes the way of Instagram’s attempt at a Pinterest alternative (can’t win ’em all!)—we will just have to wait and see.

(Image via Lia Haberman)

The Amazon partnership, which is slated to roll out later in this year, marks Pinterest’s first foray into third-party ads. Pinterest says it will bring more brands and relevant products to the platform, along with Amazon’s well-known and user-friendly shopping experience.

“Over 463 million people come to Pinterest each month to create a life they love,” it says in Pinterest’s announcement of the partnership. “Brands and products are a critical piece of this journey, enabling Pinners to move easily from inspiration to action and advertisers to realize value in connecting with users with high commercial intent. Our partnership with Amazon will allow us to scale these efforts in meaningful ways.”

“This milestone partnership will add to the great brands already on the platform and provide more comprehensiveness, shoppability, and a best-in-class buying experience for users, along with greater performance for brands and advertisers,” said Bill Ready, CEO of Pinterest, in a statement. “This aligns with our goal of making every Pin shoppable, so that we can enable as many users as possible to bring their dreams to life.”

Pinterest’s push for more shoppable features on its platform aligns with similar efforts on other social media like Instagram and Facebook, where in-app shopping is becoming more commonplace and creators are being provided more ways to monetize their presence. Conversely, Meta, parent company for Instagram and Facebook, shuttered its live shopping features earlier this year.

This news comes shortly after Pinterest announced new ways to shop on its platform, including Shuffles, an app for creating collages and digital art. Pinterest has said Gen Z is using Shuffles to curate outfit collages and mood boards with shoppable ideas. For more, read “Recapturing the Joy of Shopping With Pinterest” on the platform’s blog.

(Image via Pinterest)

So Twitter’s a mess, which is news to no one (if even the beloved residents of Sesame Street are against you, what’s the point?). And over the past several months, the names of a number of competitors have been floating around in the conversation of who could replace it. With Bluesky, it sounds like we might be getting closer to knowing.

Founded by Jack Dorsey—formerly the CEO of Twitter—Bluesky is a decentralized app pretty similar in nature to the blue bird. In fact, it was once a project of Twitter, which had previously invested $13 million to get it moving. Bluesky effectively separated from Twitter in October and is still funded by Dorsey.

“The goal of the AT Protocol is to allow modern social media to work more like the early days of the web, when anyone could put up a blog or use RSS to subscribe to several blogs,” says Bluesky’s website. “We believe this will unlock a new era of experimentation and innovation in social media. Researchers and communities will have the ability to jump in to help solve the problems social networks currently face, and developers will be able to experiment with many new forms of interaction.”

Apparently, the app is a whole lot of fun. “There’s a fizzy, infectious f***-around energy, like everyone chugged a Red Bull on a Friday afternoon and the boss is out of town,” wrote Kate Knibbs on Wired. “Users are playfully creating their own lingo; they call posts ‘skeets.’ (Threaded posts are ‘ropes.’) The vibe reminds me of the weeks when Clubhouse was invite-only and looked like the next big thing, before it got overrun by hustle culture gurus and crypto entrepreneurs.”

Only time will tell if the fun will last, but new Twitter alternatives coming to the table are certainly not a bad thing—they make life online more interesting and keep our favorite apps on the hook for improving to the benefit of their users.

Bluesky is currently available on an invite-only basis—and a number of high-profile public figures are already using it—but people interested in scoring an invite can sign up on Bluesky’s website for the waitlist for a beta invitation.

(Image via Bluesky)

“From trending themes and top shopped wedding dresses to sustainable ideas and incredible venues, the Pinterest x  Zola 2023 Wedding Trends report showcases the most relevant wedding trends of the year based on what Pinners are searching and saving to their boards along with what couples on Zola are planning,” said Pinterest’s announcement of the report.

While there isn’t a specific category dedicated to jewelry in the report, reviewing it may prove fruitful for retailers who want to keep a finger on the pulse of what consumers are dreaming of and planning for their weddings, particularly when it comes to color trends and styles.

The full report can be viewed here, but some highlights are below.

Going green—in terms of both the color and eco-consciousness—is a popular theme of the report. Searches for “leaf confetti” and “eco-friendly wedding decor” rose, respectively, by 105% and 230% since last year, while searches for green-colored wedding invitations also increased. Green is having a moment in the jewelry industry as well, so perhaps it’s the perfect opportunity to introduced colored gemstones to those in the market for wedding-day jewelry (shades of sage and eucalyptus are reportedly in demand among planners, according to Zola).

Green isn’t the only sought-after color for weddings—searches for hot pink wedding colors and Barbie wedding theme had big increases this year (465% and 140%, respectively). Searches for “maximalist weddings” increased by 1,900%, leading us to believe that there’s no such thing as too much wedding-day jewelry. Terra-cotta, which we have covered here on JCKonline, is also trending.

You’ve heard of the alternative engagement ring, now check out the alt wedding (presumably, the former would be more popular than ever with this attitude toward traditional events). Searches for “anti-bride weddings,” nontraditional wedding vows, nontraditional wedding dresses, and “ugly wedding” all saw major increases. They can have their ugly weddings, but ugly engagement rings? Never heard of one.

Choice of wedding flowers might not be too interesting a topic for jewelers normally, but with a 95% increase in searches for “pearl wedding bouquet,” signs point to pearls maintaining a top spot in the wedding industry, so jewelers can feel good about keeping them in stock in a mix of classic and modern styles.

One overarching theme of the report pertains to budget: Search terms such as “upcycled wedding dresses” (which would also come from eco-conscious brides) and cheap honeymoon destinations in the U.S. suggest couples are looking to save a buck where they can. Jewelers might expect shoppers to be seeking budget-friendly accessories, too, so plan to stock attainable jewels, like sterling silver statements, as well as affordable vintage or consigned pieces.

(Photo via Pinterest)

Instagram users no longer have to decide on one external link to use in their profile, as the platform has announced it will allow up to five links per bio.

Previously, Instagrammers would have to use a service like Linktree to drive traffic to more than one source outside the app, with Instagram wanting to maximize its in-app use. Any of the five links clicked on by users will open inside the Instagram app.

To add more links to an Instagram profile, select “links” from the “edit profile” menu, and tap “add external link.” Users can choose the order in which they’d like their links to appear in their bio.

Twitter to Require Advertisers to Be Verified…

Twitter seems to be finding more ways to force users to pay for its verification service.

The platform reportedly told its advertisers last week that a checkmark will be required to advertise on the app, saying in an email: “your @account must have a verified checkmark or subscribe to either Twitter Blue or Verified Organizations to continue running ads on Twitter.” Exceptions will be made for business accounts that already spend in excess of $1,000 per month on Twitter.

It’s another move by Twitter owner Elon Musk to push for more users to pay for their blue checkmarks, even as many, including celebrities, opt not to do.

Facebook Testing AI-Generated Stories…

Facebook is testing an AI feature that generates stories for users based on content they’ve uploaded in the past.

“Allow Facebook to suggest high-quality, ready-made stories for you using advanced photo and video data, including image quality, location, the presence of people or animals,” reads an option offered to some Facebook users. The company is calling the feature “advanced stories.”

While at this point, advanced stories seems mainly a convenient way to get users to share more content without having to spend time creating it, if expanded to a wider audience in the future, it could be a beneficial tool for brands to take advantage of.

YouTube Seeks to Improve Live Shopping…

Although Meta has scaled back live shopping on Facebook and Instagram, YouTube is pushing improvements to the live shopping experience.

Previously, YouTubers would have to upload details about a product just before going live if they planned to showcase the product via livestream. But the new process offers an opportunity to tease a product (disguised on the profile with a question mark) and then have it appear immediately on the livestream.

“With Product Drops, creators will be able to release products for the first time during a livestream, without disclosing them before the drop moment,” an announcement from YouTube said. “Creators with connected Shopify stores or direct access to the Google Merchant Center of their connected stores will be able to set up Product Drops on YouTube using the Live Control Room.”

The change might be an attempt to maximize the hype around product drops, with products being teased on a user’s page in advance of their debut.

Photo: Getty Images Plus/pressureUA

A user must be registered as a business account to access Instagram Direct. The platform recommends businesses add the send message button to their profile, enabling other users to contact them directly, whether through Stories, posts, or Instagram shop. A separate link outside the app (an IG.me link) can be placed on a brand’s website and in its marketing emails and in-app advertising to drive customers straight to Instagram Direct.

Why would a brand use Instagram Direct? It offers a catered, intimate opportunity for brands to communicate with (potential) customers—a white-glove approach to customer service.

From the new info page, you can click on case studies (currently there’s only one, a story about Starbucks Indonesia’s successful use of Instagram Direct) and, after clicking on “Get Started,” access a course offered by parent company Meta on how to reach new customers using hashtags and Instagram messaging.

Instagram’s apparent push for businesses to utilize a tool like Instagram Direct signals that more brands should seek ways to engage with their followers on a one-to-one basis whenever possible.

A word to the wise, though: It’s best to let the customers do the introductory messaging, as opposed to infiltrating their message inboxes uninvited. Many made their thoughts on receiving text messages from companies known when Diamonds in the Library‘s Becky Stone posed a recent query based on her own unpleasant experience with the practice. Based on the comments on her post, most people really don’t like getting texts from businesses—they find it personally invasive. Customers might have a similar distaste for unsolicited direct messages on social media.

Visit the Instagram Direct info page here.

(Photo: Instagram)

Deactivating NFTs

Well, that was fast. After announcing it would be winding down its NFT-related content last month, Instagram parent company Meta has said that all NFTs active on Instagram and Facebook will be deactivated as of April 11.

Meta first launched NFTs on Instagram last May, enabling a select number of users to share digital collectibles in the app. NFTs have since fallen out of favor, thanks to an economic downturn and a crash in the crypto markets. Such a shift could be temporary, but at this time brands might reconsider their NFT strategy, if they have one.

Instagram Introduces Collaborative Collections

If you’ve ever saved anything to a private collection on your Instagram, you’re familiar with the concept of bookmarking images and posts for future reference. Oftentimes we do it to keep track of styles we like—be it for jewelry, fashion, home, or something else—or for posts, like recipes, for personal use to inspire or try ourselves (if you haven’t ever accessed this feature, it’s very useful).

Now Instagram head Adam Mosseri has announced that users will have the ability to collaborate on collections with friends.

By using the new “Save posts with friends” feature, users can create collaborative collections for invited members. This has a bit of a Pinterest aspect to it, allowing others to see your organized favorites and add to them, similar to Pinterest’s group boards. The new feature points to ways Instagram is striving to keep users focused on it above other social apps.

Testing New Birthday Profile Effect

Instagram wants to let everyone know it’s your birthday with the latest profile effect it’s testing.

Visible on your profile only on their birthday, the effect enables users to add a special image. Consider this Instagram’s very own prompt to entice others to send those happy birthday messages (because fewer people seem to be doing that on Facebook these days).

No word yet on when, or if, the effect will be made available to all users.

While some of the top search terms won’t be too helpful to jewelers everywhere (“how to heal yourself” and “breaking generational cycles,” for example), many insights demonstrate how women are striving to empower themselves, break societal norms and stereotypes, and explore their independence—all signaling a switch-up in the way jewelry is marketed and sold.

There has been a transition over the past several years from the notion that women need men to buy them jewelry to acknowledging women as independent purchasers. But recent societal shifts demand even more change, like removing the expectations of what type or style of jewelry defines a woman (genderless collections are doing a great job of blurring these lines) and dedicating as much celebration to self-purchases as engagement rings and wedding jewelry transactions receive.

“Self date aesthetic” ranked among the top searches by Pinterest, supporting this idea of dressing for and celebrating oneself. Jewelry has a big part to play here, whether for fashion or sentimental purposes, or both. On the fashion side of things, “femme fatale outfit” saw a major jump in searches, an invite to embrace one’s inner villain. What that looks like in jewelry is for the eye of the beholder, but if it’s bold and seductive, it’s probably right on the money.

Other search data shows age ain’t nothing but a number: Terms like “older couple engagement photos,” “older bride dresses over 50 bohemian,” and “older women tattoos over 50” all saw major increases, according to Pinterest. While this shows a certain sense of self among all generations, it might also suggest a customer with higher spending power in the wedding category—as older women get engaged or married (whether for the first time or a subsequent time), many are doing so with larger budgets than their younger counterparts. This ushers in an opportunity for jewelers to go bigger with their offerings, and it serves as a reminder that no one age group should be singled out for a certain category of product.

You can read Pinterest’s report in its entirety here.

(Photo: Pinterest)

But apps like Twitter and TikTok have kept Meta from having what seems like a monopoly across all of social media, and for obvious reasons, that’s a good thing. It’s possible, however, we could see that change.

First, there’s TikTok. Immensely popular among Gen Z and with other generations enjoying the video-based app too, TikTok has kept Instagram racing to keep up with it and, for the most part, succeeded—Instagram offers similar content creation tools, though many users will simply make their original videos on TikTok and post them to Instagram.

But it’s those tools that Instagram offers—many of them a riff on TikTok—that has it poised to stand in for TikTok should the app be forced to shut down. And lately, that’s looking all the more possible.

TikTok has been banned from government-owned devices across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Belgium, on the grounds of security issues potentially leading to compromised government data. In the United States, TikTok is being investigated for its ties to China, with the Justice Department and the FBI reportedly actively looking into ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. This news comes on the heels of the Biden administration’s pressure on TikTok to part ways with its Chinese ownership, reportedly demanding it sell its app through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

If ByteDance refuses the sale of TikTok, it faces banishment in the United States, and other countries would certainly follow suit, saying bye-bye to everyone’s favorite (or second favorite) app. If the United States is successful in its campaign to sever TikTok from Chinese control, its users would retain access—but at what cost to the app?

While we wait to see when or if this matter resolves, Instagram might as well polish its TikTok-like facets in the hope of welcoming the creators and influencers (or de-influencers) who will potentially be left without a home base to churn out content.

Then there’s that other app completely riddled with issues: Twitter. We won’t reflect on all its ups and downs (but mostly downs) here, because if you read this blog, you probably already know. What might come as news, however, is the word that Meta is building a decentralized, text-based social network—maybe the closest thing to a Twitter replacement we’ve seen thus far.

“We’re exploring a standalone decentralized social network for sharing text updates,” the company exclusively told Platformer. “We believe there’s an opportunity for a separate space where creators and public figures can share timely updates about their interests.”

Instagram’s Adam Mosseri is reportedly taking the lead on the project, which is still in its early stages.

With Meta being the most powerful in the social media game, a successful effort would likely be the nail in Twitter’s coffin—and add yet another app under Meta’s growing umbrella. That the app would be decentralized, though, means users would likely be able to set up their own servers (a la Mastodon), and decentralized networks are typically less vulnerable to government scrutiny.

There are no guarantees that Meta’s effort will be a success, and even if it gets off the ground, it’s not the only alternative. It was reported that Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey released his alternative to the app, Bluesky, as an invite-only beta on the App Store at the end of February. Bluesky also takes a decentralized approach to social media, signaling a trend for Twitter alternatives now and possibly into the future.

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TikTok recently announced Sounds for Business, a new collection of sounds designed to help small businesses create quick and engaging content creation.

The templates offer a mix of music, voice-overs, and other sounds in partnership with Elias Audio Branding, a subsidiary of Universal Production Music. The sounds are cleared for commercial use on TikTok, so businesses do not have to obtain licenses of their own.

“Sounds for Business are designed to help small businesses create easy, fun, and engaging content to help them show up and stand out,” reads TikTok’s blog. “With a track list of 10 custom sounds that prompt the community to show off their most popular products, packing, and shipping process, reasons to shop small, and other directional queues, it’s easier than ever to create engaging content.”

Sounds for Business is available in TikTok’s Commercial Music Library and can be used in both organic and paid content.

Instagram Debuts Broadcast Channels…

Meta has announced the introduction of broadcast channels on Instagram, a messaging tool that allows creators to engage directly with their followers at scale by sending many messages at once.

Broadcast channels allow creators to invite all of their followers to share text, video, and photo updates in one place; creators can also use voice notes to share their latest updates, and they can create polls to crowdsource fan feedback. Only creators can send messages in broadcast channels, while followers can react to the content and vote in polls. Followers can leave or mute broadcast channels at any time.

Broadcast Channels are currently being tested with a select handful of creators in the United States. More features are said to be added in the coming months.

Read Meta’s announcement in full here.

Meta Testing Paid Verification…

Meta has rolled out a test of a paid verification program, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Feb. 19.

Dubbed Meta Verified, the subscription service lets users verify their accounts with a government ID, get a blue badge, get extra impersonation protection against accounts claiming to be a user, and direct access to customer support.

Meta Verified starts at $11.99 a month of the web or $14.99 a month of iOS.

Instagram Axing Live Shopping Feature…

Meta has announced it’s moving away from live shopping on Instagram, removing the capability for creators to tag products in live streams beginning on March 16.

“Beginning on March 16, 2023, you will no longer be able to tag products in live broadcasts on Instagram,” the company wrote on an Instagram support page. “This change will help us focus on products and features that provide the most value to our users.”

The news comes after Meta pulled the plug on live shopping on Facebook last October, signaling the platform is stepping away from live shopping as a whole, though it reassures users it is still pushing forward with shopping capabilities on Instagram. “You will still be able to set up and run your shop on Instagram as we continue to invest in shopping experiences for people and businesses across feed, stories, Reels, ads, and more,” Instagram said.

Photo: Getty Images Plus/pressureUA