Twitter raises the price of Blue subscriptions to $5 a month

Twitter’s $3 subscription now costs $5 a month. The social network has sent out an email notifying existing subscribers that Twitter Blue has raised its prices for new members, but as early adopters, the monthly amount they’re paying will remain the same until October. In the email posted by social media consultant Matt Navarra and first spotted by The Verge, the company said early adopters will also be notified at least 30 days before the new monthly price takes effect for their accounts. 

The company didn’t elaborate on the reason behind the price increase and only said in the email that it will help Twitter build new features subscribers have been asking for, improve upon the ones it already has and sustain its mission of supporting journalism. It also said that it’s currently creating a “more frictionless reading experience” and launching new experimental features in Twitter Blue Labs for those who choose to stick around even with the higher subscription price.

Twitter launched its subscription service in the US back in November, unlocking additional features for the website’s most dedicated users. Some of its features can be very useful, including the ability to Undo tweets, which is the closest thing to an “edit” button at the moment. It also allows members to browse news without ads and gives them access to the latest features the website is testing.

In its second quarter earnings report for 2022, Twitter said it has seen a sharp rise in the number of regular users on the website. The bad news was that it didn’t translate to more money for the company. It posted a net loss of $270 million, which it blamed on the economic downturn and the uncertainty surrounding Elon Musk’s takeover. If you’ll recall, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion back in April and the social network quickly accepted, but they’ve been at odds since then. In July, Twitter sued Elon Musk for attempting to back out of the acquisition, and now the two parties are going to face off in an expedited, five-day trial beginning in October.

Instagram head responds to backlash by saying video is inevitable

You’re not alone if you think Instagram’s TikTok-like test feed is undercooked, but don’t expect it to go away completely. As CNBCnotes, social network head Adam Mosseri has posted a Twitter clip acknowledging that the video-focused trial feed is “not yet good,” and would need to be improved before it reached all Instagram users. However, he maintained that Instagram would invariably become more video-centric over time as that’s the content people were sharing. Get used to seeing more clips, in other words.

Mosseri also defended the rise of recommended posts in users’ feeds. He contended they were the “most effective and important” ways for creators to grow their audiences. Users could pause all recommendations for a month if they weren’t interested, he said.

The Twitter post is effectively Instagram’s response to a mounting backlash against the video feed and recommendation efforts. High-profile users like Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian recently blasted Instagram for “trying to be TikTok,” while posts and petitions have increasingly called on the social media site to “make Instagram Instagram again” by returning its attention to photos.

While Mosseri asked for feedback, there’s no guarantee Instagram will change course. Meta has a long history of duplicating features from social networks that pose a competitive threat, including TikTok and Snapchat. The test feed and recommendations are clearly meant to keep Instagram users from drifting toward TikTok, and Meta is trying a similarly overt strategy with Facebook. So long as Meta is worried that rivals might take its user base, it’s unlikely to completely scrap features like these.

The BBC is making a three-part Mark Zuckerberg documentary for Facebook’s 20th anniversary

The BBC has already started preparing for Facebook’s 20th anniversary in 2024: The broadcaster has announced that its factual entertainment team has commissioned a three-part documentary about Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded. Facebook’s story is pretty well-known at this point, and it’s common knowledge that Zuckerberg originally designed it to connect students at Harvard. And that the Winklevoss twins sued the Meta chief, claiming he stole their idea. BBC, however, aims to present a “definitive account” of Mark Zuckerberg and the social network he founded. 

That means no dramatized events like in the 2010 David Fincher-directed film starring Jesse Eisenberg. Instead, BBC promises access to “key players, insider testimony, personal journals and rare archive material.” Mindhouse, the TV production company behind the project, will also examine the rise of the social media and how it has changed human behavior and interaction. It’s unclear if the documentary will also examine Facebook’s role in spreading fake news around the world. 

Nancy Strang, Minhouse Creative Director, Mindhouse, said in a statement: 

“The remarkable story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook is one of the tales of our time. He has arguably done more to transform human behaviour and connectivity than any other person this century. I’m thrilled that we’ve been given this opportunity to tell the extraordinary inside story of the social media giant, and the man behind it.”

The docuseries, which has a working title of Zuckerberg, has no premiere date yet. But it will air on BBC Two and will be streamable from BBC iPlayer when it comes out.

YouTube pulls videos with information on unsafe abortion methods

YouTube says it will remove content that offers instructions on unsafe abortion methods, as well as false claims about abortion safety. Such content violates the platform’s medical misinformation policies. YouTube says it will start taking down those videos today and ramp up its efforts in the coming weeks.

Additionally, YouTube is adding an information panel under abortion-related videos and above associated search results. The panel includes context and information from local and global health authorities, the service said.

“Like all of our policies on health/medical topics, we rely on published guidance from health authorities,” a tweet from the YouTube Insider Twitter account reads. “We prioritize connecting people to content from authoritative sources on health topics, and we continuously review our policies & products as real world events unfold.”

YouTube is taking the step after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that ensured the right to abortion in the country. Several states immediately moved to ban abortions after the court’s decision in late June. 

The platform banned COVID-19 misinformation following the onset of the pandemic. By August 2021, it had taken down more than a million videos with dangerous COVID-19 misinformation. The following month, the platform banned content with vaccine misinformation.

Facebook’s latest home feed focuses on recommended content

There’s increasing pressure on Meta to show more content in chronological order, and the company is responding — if not quite in the way you might have expected. Facebook has launched Home and Feeds tabs that simultaneously offer more control while giving the social network more opportunities to push recommendations. The Feeds tab shows posts from friends, groups and Pages in a linear timeline, but the Home tab uses Facebook’s discovery engine to recommend posts, Reels and other content, including from people you don’t follow.

The tabs will appear in the shortcut bar of Facebook’s Android and iOS apps starting today, and should roll out worldwide this week. The Home tab will open by default, but you can pin the Feeds tab to the shortcut bar to make sure it’s always available.

The social media giant has previously made concessions to people who prefer chronological viewing. In March of last year, it gave users quick access to a “Most Recent” setting for the News Feed. As The Vergenoted, though, this appears to be an effort to compete with TikTok’s recommendation-driven approach to videos without dropping the usual focus on friends and Pages. Meta lost daily Facebook users for the first time in the third quarter of 2021, and has struggled to return to its previously rapid growth. In theory, this shift toward recommendations will keep users coming back without alienating those who just want to interact with their friends.

The new Instagram map is like Google Maps but with more selfies

The map function on Instagram got a lot more useful today, in a Google-inspired kind of way. The new Instagram map supports searches and filters, allowing users to look up restaurants, attractions and other hot spots directly in the app, rather than simply viewing where a photo was posted. The updated map also features posts, stories and guides tagged by users, offering a glimpse into the local scene wherever you search.

The map supports hashtag searches and offers the ability to explore by tapping tagged locations in the feed or Stories. You can also type the name of an establishment, city or neighborhood directly into the Explore page and see results on the map. The new map allows users to save their searches in a collection and share locations with other Instagrammers, as well.

Using location stickers on posts and Stories will add that content to the search results on the new map, as long as your profile is public. Visually, the map features Instagram icons where the attractions are, allowing searchers to tap and see Stories or visit the profile pages of businesses they find interesting.

This is yet another step in Instagram’s plan to become a one-stop shop for social networking, commerce, traveling and, like, life in general. For instance, earlier in July, Instagram rolled out the ability to buy things directly in chat. Moves like these make it easier for users to simply stay on Instagram, rather than opening up Google Maps or Venmo and taking their ad-supported eyeballs elsewhere.

YouTube makes it easier for creators to sell merch to fans

YouTube is making it that much easier to buy on impulse from your favorite channel. The internet giant now lets creators link their Shopify stores, making it easier to snag merch. You’ll know if a product is in stock, and you won’t even have to leave a video to check out if a YouTuber is based in the US. If there’s a must-have hoodie or yoga mat, you can order it moments after you see it.

You’ll see the enhanced shopping from eligible creators — that is, they need to have at least 10,000 subscribers (or an official artist channel), monetization, a focus on non-child content and a largely spotless policy violation record. You can’t launch your YouTube channel and store at the same time, then.

YouTube told Engadget it won’t take a cut of Shopify-linked sales. Even so, the company is clearly hoping that the seamless experience will encourage you to shop through video pages. That, in turn, might spur creators to build up a large-enough audience that they can share a storefront and boost their bottom line. This might also help YouTube fend off competition from Instagram and others that already help you shop through social media posts.

Facebook test lets users have up to five profiles for the same account

Facebook is testing giving users the ability to create up to five profiles on the platform, a major change to its longstanding policy that only allows people to have a single account and identity on the service. The upcoming test was reported byBloombe…

GLAAD: Social media platforms don’t do enough to protect LGBTQ users

Social networks still aren’t doing much to safeguard LGBTQ people against abuse, according to GLAAD. Bloombergnotes the media monitoring organization has published its second-ever Social Media Safety Index, and has given failing scores to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube after examining their LGBTQ-oriented features and policies. While GLAAD found that all the platforms had strong policy commitments and barred hateful ads, their actions generally didn’t live up to those goals.

None of the five platforms did enough to restrict anti-LGBTQ content, the watchdog said. They also fell short on offering gender pronoun options, providing adequate moderator training, minimizing takedowns of legitimate content, banning non-consensual ad targeting and protecting the privacy of gender identity and sexual orientation data. Only TikTok and Twitter adequately barred targeted deadnaming and misgendering (maliciously using a trans or non-binary person’s pre-transition name or gender), while Facebook and Instagram were the only ones making sufficient promises to shield LGBTQ users from harm.

GLAAD made recommendations in the wake of the findings. It called for more policies against practices like deadnaming and unwanted ad targeting. The organization also wanted Facebook to outline how it enforces its LGBTQ policies, and YouTube to disclose how it minimized wrongful demonetization and content bans. There was also pressure on TikTok to publicly promise to diversify its workforce.

All five social networks defended their current approaches in statements to Bloomberg. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta said it barred dehumanizing and violent anti-LGBTQ material, and will pull misgendering content upon request. Twitter said it already worked with GLAAD and was discussing the new recommendations. YouTube parent Google stressed that it made “significant progress” in pulling harmful videos, while TikTok highlighted both its anti-hate policies and recent tools to promote kinder comments.

As Bloomberg pointed out, though, there are still significant gaps in these protections. GLAAD is hoping the Safety Index will pressure companies to act, and that regulators will step in to demand greater accountability.

Instagram creators can now lock photos and Reels behind a paywall

Instagram has been building out its creator subscription program this year and now it’s slotting a couple of key pieces into place. Creators can now share subscriber-only feed posts. Those Reels and photos will have a purple badge with a crown symbol t…