Tumblr is having some fun at Twitter’s expense.

Rather than paying $7.99 per month for subscription service Twitter Blue and its on-again, off-again verified checkmark, which only verifies that the account holder is paying $7.99 per month, Tumblr is offering a double blue checkmark for a one-time price of $7.99.

Tumblr said on the order page, “This is not a verification status; it’s an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which, in 2022 is just as legit. Also, the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time.”

Important Blue Internet Checkmark stickers are also available for pre-order at $3 apiece—” six inches by four inches of pure, uncut, glossy unverified verification you can stick on anything”—as are enamel pins for $6.

Top executives continued to flee Twitter last week, including one who had been front and center since Elon Musk took over the company Oct. 27, and another who left, pulled a 180 and returned to the company.

Speaking of pulling a 180, after several tweets seeking to reassure people about the social network’s moderation efforts and its capacity to maintain them, as well as serving as a moderator of a Twitter Spaces audio session in which Musk shared his vision for Twitter going forward, head of safety and integrity Yoel Roth resigned last Thursday.

Roth had been with Twitter for more than seven years, joining the company in July 2015 as senior program manager, product trust.

His co-host for Musk’s Twitter Spaces session, vice president, U.S. client solutions Robin Wheeler, a nearly 11-year veteran of the company, reportedly also resigned last Thursday, but said in a tweet later that day, “I’m still here.”

Wheeler joined Twitter in January 2012 and served as global commercial head of its MoPub mobile monetization platform, which was acquired by AppLovin in January, before ascending to her current role in March.

Chief information security officer Lea Kissner also revealed their decision to leave the company last Thursday, saying in a tweet, “I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people, and I’m so proud of the privacy, security and IT teams and the work we’ve done.”

Kissner joined Twitter in April 2021 as head of privacy engineering, and they were followed quickly out the door by chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty.

Kieran had been with the company just shy of seven years, starting out as global litigation counsel in January 2016, while seven-plus-year Twitter veteran Fogarty came on board as director, legal, compliance in August 2015.

Musk assumed control of Twitter Oct. 27 and gutted its C-suite that evening, firing CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, legal, public policy and trust and safety lead Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett.

Chief customer officer Sarah Personette revealed Nov. 1 that she had resigned effective Oct. 28, and Nov. 1 was also the departure date for chief marketing officer Leslie Berland and vice president of global client solutions Jean-Philippe Maheu.

Instagram allows users to view all of the posts they’ve previously “Liked” on the photo- and video-sharing platform. While users are viewing their “Likes,” they can tap on a post’s thumbnail to view the post again in full, where they can leave comments, “unlike” the post and more.

Our guide will show you how to view the posts you’ve “Liked” from within in the Instagram mobile application.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the Instagram app on iOS.

Step 1: While viewing your Instagram profile, tap the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap “Your activity.”

Step 3: Tap “Interactions.”

Step 4: Tap “Likes.”

Now, you’ll see a list of the posts you’ve liked on Instagram. You can sort them to view posts in a desired order, view posts from a certain account and more.

This guide was first published in June 2017 and was updated in November 2022.

American Express is marking its 13th annual Small Business Saturday Nov. 26 by teaming up with TikTok on the #ShopSmall Accelerator.

The video toolkit provides small and midsized businesses with best practices and resources to reach Generation Z and millennial shoppers via the video creation platform during the holiday shopping season, as well as to share their stories in an authentic manner.

Eligible SMBs can also earn a $100 TikTok ad credit after spending $50 on their first ad campaign on the platform.

As part of #ShopSmall Accelerator, lifestyle creators Sofia Bella and Anna Sitar will team up with SMB owner Brandon Blackwood to teach SMB owners: how to use TikTok as a search engine; how to leverage communities, hashtags, sounds and trends; and how to drive engagement.

Musical artist Chlöe Bailey also teamed up with American Express on a “Shop Small Soundtrack” for TikTok users to add to their content.

American Express shared some findings from its 2022 American Express Shop Small Impact study, which was released Monday:

• 72% of SMB owners are concerned about the impact of inflation on their business this year.
• 61% said the current economy is making it even harder for them to compete with big retailers.
• 96% of SMB owners on social platforms believe those platforms have had a positive impact on revenue over the past year, and 45% said their business would struggle to survive without it.
• 82% of SMB owners on social platforms have increased their presence on social channels over the past year.
• SMB owners attribute 57% of their overall sales to Gen-Z and millennials.

TikTok global head of business marketing Sofia Hernandez said in a statement, “More and more American small businesses are turning to TikTok to take us inside their world in a fun, authentic way and, as a result, they are reaching new customers, hiring more employees and growing their business. The real-world impact is undeniable, with 44% of TikTok users saying that they discovered something on the platform and immediately went out to buy it, according to our Global Retail Path to Purchase Study. This holiday season, the TikTok community is ready to #ShopSmall and support small businesses.”

American Express vice president, Small Business Saturday and Shop Small Marianne Rausch added, “The mission of Small Business Saturday has never been more vital, as small business owners need our continued support this holiday season and beyond. This year, we want to help small business owners reach a new generation of shoppers, which is why we are excited to partner with TikTok on this accelerator, which provides businesses with the tools they need to create content that can help expand their customer base. According to our Shop Small Impact study data, nearly nine-in-10 small business owners (88%) say social media has helped them to find new customers this past year.”

Fandoms are often an overlooked force in internet history. These micro-communities can help create a feeling of belonging and community, presenting brands the perfect opportunity to forge deep and meaningful connections.

David Bates, CEO and creative director of creative agency Bokeh, and Pedro Zuim, global marketing director of Future Farm, joined Adweek’s Lucinda Southern during Social Media Week Europe to discuss how brands can lean into the power of community. 

Make change the appealing choice

Plant-based meat company Future Farm is on a mission to change the way the world eats. But the “why” behind the brand’s purpose is much deeper than simply providing delicious meat alternatives. Zuim said leveraging community played an integral role in launching and growing the company—and continues to do so. 

“The U.K. talks a lot about being healthier and about the planet and putting pressure on people, but actually, we need to create an environment where it’s inviting,” he said.

“If you couple with that the fact that we are from Brazil and we drive impact where it hits the most—the whole climate emergency situation—you have something that people want to be a part of. We see Future Farm as something that allows you to be part of a movement, that lets you solve problems.” 

Ending the platform mentality

Bates said before you can build a community, you must understand where your community is interacting and why. Today’s fandoms don’t live on a single platform. It’s more of an all-encompassing mindset centered around loyalty to the brand, product or person. 

“What is the technology environment, and how are they socializing? This is where there’s a major shift of change happening, especially between generations,” he said. “You have millennials and generations before millennials that are used to segmenting their identities across multiple platforms and channels. But if you have a platform mentality when talking about Zoomers or anybody younger, you’re in the wrong place.” 

He said the social networks these younger generations spend their time on—TikTok, BeReal and Discord—aren’t platforms. They’re spaces where users build communities rooted in meaningful engagement. 

“When you’re talking about communities, you have to understand where these people are, the spaces they inhabit, and how they interact with them,” he explained. “Then, you have to start to think about how you can engage in those different areas.” 

Reimagining the 360-degree campaign 

As online communities evolve and deep connections become increasingly important, Bates believes the fully integrated campaign is becoming antiquated. Because of this, he said brands should move away from the paradigm that they have to be everywhere at once. 

“Instead of the 360-degree marketing campaign, focus on the 15 degrees that really matter because that’s actually where your user wants to interact with you,” he said. “You don’t have to be everywhere, it’s completely inefficient, and you’ll end up spending far more than you need to. You’ll also end up creating a lot of content that is not applicable to the spaces you’re in.”

By default, Twitter doesn’t allow users to send direct messages to other users if those users don’t follow them on the social networking platform. However, users have the option to turn on a setting that will allow all users to send them direct messages, even if they don’t follow them.

Our guide will show you how to receive direct message requests from everyone on Twitter, whether you follow them or not.

Note: These screenshots were captured in the Twitter application on iOS.

Step 1: Tap your profile picture in the top-left corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap “Settings and Support.”

Step 3: Tap “Settings and privacy.”

Step 4: Tap “Privacy and safety.”

Step 5: Tap “Direct messages.”

Step 6: Tap the gray toggle to the right of “Allow message requests from everyone” to turn this setting on.

This guide was first published in May 2017 and was updated in November 2022.

Twitter’s self-described “Complaint Hotline Operator,” Elon Musk, hosted a Twitter Spaces Wednesday afternoon in an effort to allay advertiser concerns about brand safety and ad relevancy.

Brands including Paramount, eBay, Walgreens, Honda and Ford joined the audio conversation along with about 100,000 others.

Advertisers are increasingly concerned about Musk’s definition of free speech and how that can collide with their brand messaging. Musk told the brands his $8 subscription plan, which includes verification, will solving for these concerns. His argument? That a paying user wouldn’t dare break the rules for fear of losing their verification.

“If someone tries to impersonate a brand, their account will be suspended and we will keep their $8,” Musk said.

Maybe this is a dumb decision, but we’ll see.

Elon Musk, Twitter CEO

Not all advertisers are satisfied with this argument. Lou Paskalis, an advertising industry veteran who has held top roles at Bank of America and American Express, said political operatives and foreign actors who spend billions on advertising and could have an interest in spreading harmful misinformation would not be deterred by the prospect of paying $8 a month.

“I don’t think his model is fully baked,” Paskalis told Adweek. “I don’t think it will demote hate speech and it will create headwinds for advertisers.”

The public meeting followed internal meetings Musk held with agencies last week, which also left some advertisers with more questions than answers. This time, Musk still gave limited information on issues such as content moderation, brand safety and how a subscription model would affect advertisers.

Tools to curb hate speech and misinformation

On the call, Musk maintained the platform’s content moderation policies haven’t changed. While he urged the attendees to observe how events play out on Twitter, he reaffirmed rigorously clamping down on bad content, bots and trolls.

Twitter’s head of safety & integrity, Yoel Roth said that the platform has actually gotten safer since Musk took over, citing a stat that the level of hateful activity on Twitter is 95% lower than it was before the acquisition.

However, Tuesday’s midterm elections showed otherwise. The New York Times dug into the Twitter data and found 40,000 tweets about malfunctioning voting machines in Arizona which promoted election misinformation narratives across the platform for much of the night.

Meanwhile, Roth spoke about new tools being built to curb the spread of misinformation and harmful content without having to ban people. These include frameworks like warning messages, interstitials and tools to limit reach. Musk sees a “mild paywall” as another solution.

“Maybe this is a dumb decision, but we’ll see,” said the world’s richest man.

According to Paskalis, Musk seems to fundamentally misunderstand the concerns of advertisers, focusing on brand safety as an issue of ad adjacency.

“The issue isn’t adjacency. Does Twitter allow hate speech on the platform?,” he asked, noting these assurances require a much higher bar than simply ensuring brands aren’t next to harmful content.

If things go wrong, it’s my fault. The buck stops with me

Elon Musk, Twitter CEO

Robin Wheeler, Twitter’s vp of US client solutions, kicked off the 59-minute call. The 10-year Twitter veteran asked Musk about how advertising fits into the platform’s subscription model. While Musk was light on details, a recent update to Twitter’s app in the iOS store noted that Twitter Blue subscribers will see half the ad load of non-subscribers.

On the call, Musk encouraged brands to continue using Twitter, whether through advertising on the platform and via their own accounts. While some brands have paused spend, others have dramatically pared down the use of their Twitter accounts using it primarily for the most basic functions like answering customer concerns, said Amy Gilbert, of social agency The Social Element. 

“There has been some adjustment for all our clients,” said Gilbert.

Gilbert said that since marketers also rely on Twitter for social listening if more users are behind a paywall a whole swath of valuable data could be lost.

Future of brand, its identity, and representation

Interactive Advertising Bureau CEO David Cohen, who was present on the call, probed Musk’s plan of action to address a brand’s bottom-funnel marketing goals, including relevance, brand safety and measurement. 

“We’ve probably not been great on any of them,” said Musk. “We’re terrible at relevance.” 

To address this, Twitter plans to integrate ads into recommended tweets. This needs to be on one software stack, according to Musk. Last week, the platform downsized to a single software from three different software groups.

“The relevance of recommended tweets is much better than the relevance of the ads because they’re two different engines,” Musk said.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s new content moderation council will take a few more months to come together. The team will weigh in on account suspension decisions, according to Musk.

“I’m the chief twit here, so the responsibility is mine,” he said to the thousands of people listening live, which grew to 1.2 million by late Wednesday. “If things go wrong, it’s my fault. The buck stops with me.”

Former National Basketball Association chief marketing officer Kate Jhaveri joined TikTok as global head of marketing.

Jhaveri will report to chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas and oversee consumer and brand marketing, as well as marketing to content creators, working closely with global head of business marketing Sofia Hernandez.

She left the NBA after three years in August, having overseen its marketing during the pause and resumption of play due to the pandemic.

Prior to the NBA, Jhaveri was CMO at Twitch, and she also held marketing roles at Twitter, Facebook and Microsoft.

Her new role at TikTok had been vacant since the departure of Nick Tran in January.

Jhaveri said in a LinkedIn post, “Throughout my career, I have been fascinated by communities. What brings people together; how communities evolve and grow; and all of the stories and amazing people within a community. There is no more creative, educational, engaging and culture-defining community than TikTok, and I’m thrilled that I have the opportunity to help shape this brand and tell this community’s amazing stories.”

Reddit began rolling out a new community muting feature on its mobile applications Wednesday, aimed at giving Redditors more control over their experience on its platform.

When a user mutes a community, that community’s posts will be removed from their notifications and their Home/Popular feeds, including Home feed recommendations.

The feature is starting out on Android and iOS, with plans to roll it out to desktop, as well as to other surfaces on the platforms, including All, Discover and the Full Bleed Player.

Redditors can still comment, post in and view communities they’ve muted, as well as reverse their decisions at any time in the settings menu.

Up to 1,000 communities can be muted, and there are three ways to do so: via settings, via the three dots in the top right of the community page and via the three dots on the top right of Popular and Home. More information is available here.