TikTok’s Newest Video-Editing Feature Leaves Users in Stitches

TikTok introduced a new editing feature last week, Stitch, which enables users to clip and integrate scenes from other users’ videos into their own.

The video-creation platform said in a blog post that much like its iconic Duets feature, Stitch “is a way to reinterpret and add to another user’s content, building on their stories, tutorials, recipes, math lessons and more.”

Also like Duets, TikTok users can decide whether or not other users can Stitch their content via the application’s privacy settings. They can do so for all videos or toggle the option for each video they create.

Videos where Stitch is incorporated will attribute the original creator in the caption, linking directly to the original video.

TikTok also provided instructions for using Stitch:

  • Find a video to Stitch and hit the “Send to” button.
  • Press the “Stitch” button.
  • Select up to five seconds from the video and trim the clip to your preferred duration.
  • Record your addition to the Stitched clip.
  • Start Stitching together your videos for expanded storytelling.

https://www.adweek.com/digital/tiktoks-newest-video-editing-feature-leaves-users-in-stitches/



Twitter Forms 2 New Teams to Focus on Accessibility

Twitter continued to respond to the accessibility concerns that were raised following its test of voice tweets in June, revealing last week that it was forming two new teams to focus on related issues.

Vice president of people experience and head of inclusion and diversity Dalana Brand and product lead Kayvon Beykpour said in a blog post last week that the Accessibility Center of Excellence and the Experience Accessibility Team will focus on ensuring greater accessibility, tooling and advocacy across all Twitter products.

The Accessibility Center for Excellence will set goals, drive progress, consult and partner with groups across the social network’s core business functions, including accessibility in the company’s office spaces, marketing and communications strategies and legal and policy standards.

And the Experience Accessibility Team will work within Twitter’s product team on new and existing features and products, functioning in tandem with the Accessibility Center for Excellence in order to ensure that the company is held accountable in identifying and filling accessibility gaps throughout its product development lifecycle.

Brand and Beykpour wrote, “Beyond staffing our teams, we’re already working to add automated captions to audio and video by early 2021. This lays the foundation for a longer-term roadmap that invests broadly in media accessibility throughout our service. We’ve partnered with external groups and, over the coming months, we’ll be gathering feedback from people with disabilities via interviews, surveys and doing remote usability studies of new prototypes. While this is underway, we’ll continue to test related media features. We know we need to do more to make our service accessible, and we will. You can follow along on all of our accessibility product updates at @TwitterA11y.”

Twitter began testing voice tweets with a limited number of iOS users in June, but just two days after the test was introduced, a flurry of apologies for failure to support people who are visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing came in the form of tweets from Beykpour, Twitter Support and a particularly passionate tweetstorm from product designer Maya Patterson.

https://www.adweek.com/digital/twitter-forms-2-new-teams-to-focus-on-accessibility/



Here Are the Members of the Inaugural 2020 Snap Creative Council

Snapchat teamed up with Adcolor to form the Snapchat Creative Council, a team of top Black creatives who will focus on addressing challenging issues in the U.S. and driving awareness across the messaging application’s community.

The multiyear partnership will bring together a panel of Black creative leaders to choose campaigns that leverage Snapchat’s creative tools, including augmented reality, to address pressing issues that disproportionately affect Black communities, with a focus on civic engagement, education and mental health.

The Snapchat Creative Council will nominate small creative teams to work on cause-related pitches over a five-week period, during which they will be able to connect with Snapchat’s creative strategy teams for help in developing their campaigns.

The winning pitch will be chosen in October, at which point it will be professionally produced and broadly promoted across the Snapchat platform, as well as on Snap Inc.’s off-platform channels.

The inaugural 2020 Snap Creative Council is made up of:

Snap Inc. senior director of creative strategy Jeff Miller said in a statement, “Inspired by Saturday Morning’s open letter calling for ‘bold steps … that will bring about real change,’ we developed the Snapchat Creative Council to drive tangible progress in terms of diversity and inclusion—both in the ad industry and our global community of Snapchatters. We look forward to working closely with Adcolor and our new Council members to develop meaningful and effective programs that elevate the Black community.”

https://www.adweek.com/digital/here-are-the-members-of-the-inaugural-2020-snap-creative-council/



Facebook Shop: How to View Items You’ve Saved

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Reddit’s Cheeky Marketing Campaign Encourages Users to Vote

Reddit is encouraging its users to get out and vote with its first brand marketing campaign.

Drawing inspiration from how Reddit users engage with one another on its channels—by upvoting and downvoting—the social media company used content from its online pages to encourage real-life voting.

The brand marketing campaign will include ads in print, online and out-of-home in New York, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles through Election Day on November 3.

The campaign drops today.

The campaign represents somewhat of a marketing pivot for the company that, separately, outright banned hate speech from its site in late June.

The ad campaign, called “Up the Vote” is part of its wider initiative to encourage users to vote in their local, state, and national elections. Reddit users cast more than 165 million votes across the site every day.

The campaign was created in partnership with R/GA San Francisco.

“While not originally planned as such, it feels fitting that our first ever marketing campaign is focused on something as intrinsic to Reddit as voting, while also serving a positive purpose for our larger, real world community,” Reddit VP of Marketing, Roxy Young said in a statement.

https://www.adweek.com/digital/reddits-cheeky-marketing-campaign-encourages-users-to-vote/



Facebook: How to Save an Item on Facebook Shop

Facebook recently debuted Facebook Shop, a new area within the Facebook mobile application that allows users to browse products, discover and follow brands, and purchase items.

When you find an interesting item on Facebook Shop, you have the option to save it to a collection so you can easily find it again later on. Our guide will show you how this works.

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

Step 1: While browsing Facebook Shop, tap the item you want to save.

Step 2: Tap “Save.”

By default, the item will be saved to your “Products” collection, which only you can see. If you want to change this and save the item to a different collection, tap “Change” at the bottom of the screen (if you’ve never created a collection before, you’ll need to create one at this point).

https://www.adweek.com/digital/facebook-how-to-save-an-item-on-facebook-shop/



The National Hockey League’s Brand Partners Hit the Ice for the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The second round of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is in full swing, as are several activations, social and otherwise, with partners in the U.S. and Canada.

The league detailed those activations in each country.

U.S.:

  • Anheuser Busch: Bud Light, the league’s official beer in the U.S., is delivering beer in cities with teams competing for the Stanley Cup with its Bud Light Zamboni Machine.
  • Apple: Its Shot on iPhone ad features Marc-Andre Fleury and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights.
  • BetMGM: It debuted a first-of-its-kind live betting odds page on NHL.com and the NHL App.
  • Dunkin’: Pasta and Kendall are “Talkin’ Hockey” with their Cold Brews in this video and this video.
  • Enterprise: The NHL Hat Trick Challenge presented by Enterprise returns, and it can be downloaded via the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
  • FanDuel: Every customer received an automatic deposit of $10 in their accounts to be used across its daily fantasy sports and Sportsbook offerings, and new NHL-themed spot Return to Play is running on NBC.
  • Gatorade: Its #ReadyToPlay social posts show how NHL players trained to return to the ice.
  • Geico: The Geico Cup Crazy trivia platform is back on the NHL’s Twitter account.
  • Great Clips: The official hair salon of the NHL created a brand spot with players encouraging fans to wear masks.
  • Honda: The automaker is backing the league’s 50/50 sweepstakes platform, which will benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada, as well as one lucky fan.

  • Jägermeister: the official shot of the NHL is running two sweepstakes and new hockey-themed brand creative.
  • MassMutual: The insurance company is looking for the NHL Most Valuable Hockey Family.
  • Navy Federal Credit Union: The Stick Tap for Service program returns for the second year to recognize the outstanding community service of hockey fans and military members
  • Pepsi: The Pepsi Zero Scores Sweepstakes reached millions of fans during the first 24 games of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, and shutouts will continue to be celebrated by Pepsi Zero Sugar throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
  • Roman: The men’s health brand showcased user-generated content from hockey fans at home for its Hockey Is Back ad, and it has corner in-ice positions throughout the postseason.
  • SAP: The software giant’s 60-second spot highlights NHL stars’ transitions from home to the ice, including Brad Marchand, Tyler Seguin and Matthew Tkachuk.
  • William Hill: The bookmaker will post infographics for all NHL postseason games on its U.S. Twitter account, including up-to-the-hour betting lines.

Canada:

  • Kraft: Over 3,800 stories were submitted and more than 500 arenas were nominated in the Kraft Hockevyille initiative, and Kraft Peanut Butter encouraged fans across Canada to cheer on their favorite teams from home, securing outdoor space in Toronto and Edmonton to promote the initiative.
  • Little Caesars: The official pizza of the league is running spots with an NHL-branded end frame and has a corner in-ice ad position throughout the playoffs.

  • Molson: The beer brand’s Happy Hockey Day campaign encouraged the spread of hockey cheer with a Christmas in July tone.
  • Nutrl: The vodka beverage will promote round-by-round tune-in on its social accounts and offer fans the chance to win gift codes to the NHL Shop. It will also give away over 10,000 NHL-branded koozies.
  • Pepsi: Pepsi and Lays created a fully integrated campaign encompassing broadcast, digital, in-store and experiential activations. Spots included Hockey’s Back, #ReadyForHockey and two user-generated spots: here and here.
  • Pinty’s: The food chain will run an in-store program, amplified on its digital channels, giving fans the chance to win prizes including $500 gift cards to the NHL Shop.
  • Rogers: The communications and media giant ran a social contest to welcome fans back, with one of them winning a jersey autographed by the Oilers’ Connor McDavid.
  • Scotiabank: “Sounds of the Game” featured three 30-second TV spots, and the campaign will be extended across owned and paid social platforms, including a Game Bracket Challenge. Sounds of Hockey content on Instagram can be found here and here.
  • Sobeys: The food retailer will feature city-inspired menu items for participating teams, such as Dallas Tex Mex Burritos vs. Calgary Fruit Pierogies and St. Louis Toasted Ravioli vs. Vancouver Tojo Sushi Rolls.
  • Tim Hortons: Two coffee trucks in Toronto and one in Edmonton will serve all NHL players, club staff and league staff in the bubbles, and the donut chain is also running a contest in which fans pick three players they believe will score goals in that day’s games, as well as selling miniature versions of six NHL superstars’ hockey sticks in nearly 4,000 locations across Canada for $5.99 each.

https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/the-national-hockey-leagues-brand-partners-hit-the-ice-for-the-stanley-cup-playoffs/



Facebook: How to Use Facebook Shop

Facebook recently debuted Facebook Shop in the main Facebook mobile application. This tab allows users to browse and purchase products, discover and follow businesses, and more.

Our guide will show you how to use Facebook Shop within the Facebook mobile app.

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

Step 1: Tap the three horizontal lines in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap “Shop.”

From there, you’ll see a variety of product collections at the top of the screen, which contain products that were curated by Facebook. You’ll also see a list of brands that you can follow.

If you continue scrolling, you’ll see more featured businesses, along with some of the products and collections they have available.

When you tap on a collection, you’ll be able to scroll through all of the products in that collection.

When you tap a product, you’ll be taken to its page, where you can view additional information about the item, share the item with others, follow the company that’s selling the item and even tap a button to purchase the product.

https://www.adweek.com/digital/facebook-how-to-use-facebook-shop/



YouTube Details How the Pandemic Affected Content Moderation

YouTube said the second quarter of 2020 marked the most videos it ever removed in a single quarter for violations of its community guidelines.

The Google-owned video site attributed steps it took to rely more on technology and ease the burden on its content review teams during the pandemic as a major factor behind the high numbers in its community guidelines enforcement report for the quarter.

YouTube wrote in a blog post, “When reckoning with greatly reduced human review capacity due to Covid-19, we were forced to make a choice between potential underenforcement or potential overenforcement. One option was to dial back our technology and limit our enforcement to only what could be handled with our diminished review capacity. This would maintain a high level of accuracy, but would result in less content being removed from YouTube, including some content that violates our policies. The other option was to use our automated systems to cast a wider net so that the most content that could potentially harm the community would be quickly removed from YouTube, with the knowledge that many videos would not receive a human review, and some of the videos that do not violate our policies would be removed.”

Those decisions resulted in more than double the number of videos removed from the platform in the second quarter than in the first quarter, as well as an increase of more than three times n removal of content that YouTube’s systems suspected was tied to violent extremism or was potentially harmful to children.

One concession made by the video site: Strikes are not being issued on content that is removed without human review, except in cases where YouTube has “very high confidence” that its policies are being violated.

Another was easing the appeals process for people who believe their videos were removed in error, and YouTube said that while fewer than 3% of video removals are appealed, both the number of appeals and the reinstatement rate doubled in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, with the latter rising to 50% from 25%.

YouTube concluded, “The impact of Covid-19 has been felt in every part of the world and in every corner of our business. Through these challenging times, our commitment to responsibility remains steadfast. We’ve taken extraordinary steps to make sure we live up to that commitment—protecting viewers by quickly removing content that violates our policies and minimizing the disruption felt by creators. We are continuing to improve the accuracy of our systems and, as reviewers are able to come back to work, we are deploying them to the highest impact areas. We’ll continue to regularly update the community on our progress.”

https://www.adweek.com/digital/youtube-details-how-the-pandemic-affected-content-moderation/



LinkedIn Details Upcoming Updates Regarding User Safety

LinkedIn revealed some changes that are coming in order to better ensure the safety of members of the professional network.

Vice president of product, trust Tanya Staples said in a blog post that LinkedIn’s policies are being updated to reinforce the fact that “hateful, harassing, inflammatory or racist content has absolutely no place on our platform.”

She added, “In this ever-changing world, people are bringing more conversations about sensitive topics to LinkedIn, and it’s critical that these conversations stay constructive and respectful, never harmful. When we see content or behavior that violates our policies, we take swift action to remove it. We’re starting to roll out new educational content in the feed as you post, message and engage with others, to review our policies and to always keep things professional.”

Staples also detailed LinkedIn’s use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, including an ongoing partnership with parent company Microsoft, saying that it is using AI models to find and remove profiles containing inappropriate content, and the professional network created the LinkedIn Fairness Toolkit to help it measure multiple definitions of fairness in large-scale ML workflows.

LinkedIn also implemented AI to help stop inappropriate, inflammatory, harassing and hateful content sent via private messages. Users will see a warning that enables them to view and report the content, or dismiss the warning and mark it as safe.

When LinkedIn users report content or behavior, the professional network takes actions including removing the content or restricting accounts, and Staples said transparency regarding this process will be increased in the coming weeks.

She wrote, “We’ll close the loop with members who report inappropriate content, letting them know the action we’ve taken on their report. And, for members who violate our policies, we’ll inform them about which policy they violated and why their content was removed.”

Staples concluded, “We embrace the opportunity to be better as a platform, amplifying all the good we see every day and stopping the behavior and content that could harm your experience. We’ll keep you posted as we release new technology and features that keep you and everyone on the platform safe.”

https://www.adweek.com/digital/linkedin-details-upcoming-updates-regarding-user-safety/