Sandberg said in a Newsroom post that Facebook will invest $100 million: $75 million in cash grants and ad credits to support Black-owned businesses and nonprofits serving the Black community, and $25 million to support Black content creators.

The company committed to spending at least $1 billion with diverse suppliers in 2021 and every year going forward, with at least $100 million going to Black-owned suppliers in areas including construction, facilities and marketing agencies.

Over the next three years, Facebook plans to reach 1 million members apiece of the Black and Latinx communities with free digital skills training covering areas including setting up an online presence and creating marketing materials.

The social network’s Boost With Facebook training program is going all-virtual this summer, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and it kicks off with the Summer of Support program June 24.

The company is expanding on its CodeFWD and TechPrep programs, which provide resources and support to help underrepresented communities get started in computer science and programming, by giving 100,000 scholarships to Black students working toward digital skills certifications.

On Juneteenth (June 19), Facebook will donate a total of $5 million ($19 apiece) to over 250,000 fundraisers on its platform that support racial justice organizations Equal Justice Initiative, Innocence Project and Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

On the product side, Facebook will create a new space in its flagship mobile application, Lift Black Voices, which will highlight stories from Black people, share educational resources and promote fundraising for racial justice causes.

Sandberg said the social network asked employees for new product and feature ideas to help fight racial injustice, and more than 700 were submitted.

On Instagram, accounts are being surfaced in search to help people take action on racial justice, and the #ShareBlackStories editorial series will continue on @instagram, @creators, @shop and @design to amplify the voices of Black creators, artists, activists and businesses.

Finally, Sandberg addressed Facebook’s workforce, saying that the company already committed to having 50% be made up of people from underrepresented communities by the end of 2023, and it is working to double the number of Black and Latinx employees in the same timeframe.

She added that Facebook committed to having 30% more people of color in leadership positions over the next five years, including 30% more Black people, and it will continue its efforts to boost the representation of women in leadership roles, as well.

Sandberg said in her introduction, “The past few weeks have compelled us to confront the reality of violence and injustice that members of the Black community face on a daily basis. We have shared words of support for our friends, colleagues and communities. We need to take action, as well. At Facebook, we’re focused on building powerful tools and resources. We’re taking steps to improve our products, programs and policies. We pooled ideas from diverse groups of our employees across different teams on how we can better fight against racial injustice.”

She concluded, “Achieving racial justice and equity is a goal all of us share and a goal that will take real work to achieve. This is just the start of how we plan to help in this fight. We’ll continue to listen and take action to support the long-term success of the Black community.”

First, Level Up creators who have reached at least 250 “returning weekly viewers” will now be able to access Fan Subscriptions, a feature that allows fans to pledge a monthly donation to their favorite creators in exchange for certain perks, like access to custom stickers and emoji. The Level Up program was designed to help creators grow their audiences on Facebook.

Next, partnered gaming creators now have access to Live Ads. When a partnered creator is streaming, a viewer may see a preroll ad before the livestream, an image ad below the livestream video or a new midroll ad that plays in the main video window while the actual stream plays in a smaller one.

In a blog post, Facebook Gaming said it has started testing ways for partnered creators to monetize previously streamed content with these new ad units.

The social network is also working on an additional ad format called Live Breaks, which will allow gaming creators to manually trigger an ad break in the middle of a stream. Creators will be able to choose from 90- and 180-second ad breaks.

Facebook said this new feature “blends creator-generated content such as clips and highlights with a traditional ads experience.”

Financial support from Facebook will help WiiT Europe organize local events and grow its network across Europe, and the organization said the social networks’ ongoing commitment to advancing diversity was another decisive factor in entering the partnership.

Facebook AR/VR policy manager Christina Weaver Jackson said in a statement, “As we continue to invest in AR and VR, fostering diversity is critical to ensuring that our products meet the diverse needs of the people who use them. We are excited to partner with Women in Immersive Tech and support their inclusive community of talented women who are driving the AR/VR ecosystem in Europe.”

WiiT Europe co-founder Leen Segers added, “We are grateful for our allies, members, ambassadors and their restless energy to make the XR (AR, VR and mixed reality) industry a better place. We are always looking to create strong connections with the industry leaders who believe in our mission. Facebook has been one of the first to partner with us, and we are excited to move ahead together.”

Pinterest said in a blog post that it compared searches from April 20 through May 17 with the exact same time period in 2019, and it found spikes in queries for LGBTQ coming-out stories (93%), drag makeup (77%) and transgender transition (70%).

In addition, searches for LGBT pride quotes were up eight times year-over-year, and there were more modest increases in queries for rainbow nail art (55%), pride illustration (44%) and bi pride tattoo (30%).

For Pinners taking their relationships to the next level, searches for lesbian proposal tripled year-over-year, while lesbian wedding suit saw a 96% surge.

Pinterest wrote, “People have been turning to Pinterest to explore their gender identities by searching for representation and tips on gender transitioning or ideas for genderless fashion and aesthetics. Searches for transgender transition began to increase in May 2018 and reached their peak in August of last year. Searches then started to rise again during the pandemic, as we noticed that many Pinners have been exploring themselves during this time. There have been hundreds of thousands of searches for transgender transition and, since April of last year, searches have increased 70%.”

Other notable search spikes included genderless fashion (up 2.5 times year-over-year), transgender women (90%), genderfluid aesthetic (89%) and genderfluid tips (43%).

Throughout June, Pinners searching for Pride in six languages—English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese—will see suggested searches displayed in rainbow colors, across desktop and mobile, and those on Android and iOS will also see a festive background.

Although grocery stores were classified as essential businesses and remained open, the two companies found that the number of Pinners shopping for groceries online was up 70% in March compared with February.

Pinterest and Numerator added that since the Covid-19 crisis began, roughly one-half of all consumers in the U.S. have shopped online for groceries, up 40% compared with the same time in 2019.

More than 60% of Pinners identify as early adopters of technology, and the study found that before the pandemic, two out of three Pinners shopped for groceries online at least once every two weeks, making them 14% more likely to do so than non-Pinners.

Pinners were 50% more likely to order groceries online than non-Pinners, and they spend 27% more on click-and-collect shopping and 14% more on personal shopping and delivery.

Pinterest also analyzed searches on its platform in the U.S. from March 11 through 24, compared with Feb. 26 through March 10, and it found a 779% spike in pantry cooking recipes, while searches for foods you can freeze were up 483% and there was a 252% jump for bulk meals for families.

Pinterest said in a blog post, “Although some areas are beginning to relax restrictions, many consumers will likely continue to utilize various digital grocery options, and brands need to be prepared to meet their needs and adjust to new habits.”

People can send money securely or make purchases from local businesses without leaving their chats in the Facebook-owned messaging application.

A special six-digit PIN or fingerprint will be required in order to prevent unauthorized transactions.

Payments are enabled by Facebook Pay, and WhatsApp said that the goal is to enable people to use the same credit card information across Facebook’s family of apps in the future.

WhatsApp Payments in Brazil supports credit or debit cards from Banco do Brasil, Nubank and Sicredi on the Mastercard and Visa networks, and Facebook is working with the country’s leading payments processor, Cielo.

The open model for WhatsApp Payments will enable the addition of more partners in the future.

Sending money or making purchases via WhatsApp Payments is free-of-charge for users, while businesses will pay a processing fee to receive payments, similar to how credit-card transactions are conducted.

WhatsApp said in a blog post, “The over 10 million small and micro businesses are the heartbeat of Brazil’s communities. It’s become second nature to send a zap to a business to get questions answered. Now in addition to viewing a store’s catalog, customers will be able to send payments for products, as well. Making payments simple can help bring more businesses into the digital economy, opening up new opportunities for growth.”

Snap Focus covers topics including: audience and communications planning; brand strategy; creative development; and media buying.

It debuts with six courses covering the Snapchat community, ad formats, creative best practices and optimizing media campaigns in Ads Manager.

Visitors can choose to complete the entire certification or focus on courses that interest them the most, and those who do complete the process are certified free-of-charge.

Interested parties can sign up here, and the company will host an informational webinar Wednesday (June 17) from 1 p.m. ET to 1:45 p.m. ET.

Snap Inc. vice president of global brands and agency partnerships David Roter said in an email, “Snapchat has a unique and valuable audience that can’t be reached anywhere else. We created Snap Focus as a resource to help industry partners dive deep into how to leverage Snapchat to drive results and reach new audiences.”

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

Step 1: Once you’ve taken or imported a photo or video in Stories, tap the Stickers icon near the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: Tap the Challenge sticker.

Step 3: Type the name of the challenge your post is associated with. Note: As of this writing, you can’t create your own challenges using this sticker. Instead, you must use the name of a pre-existing challenge. Also note that you can tap the colorful sticker at the top of the screen to change the color of the sticker.

Step 4: Once you type the name of the challenge, challenges that match will appear above your device’s keyboard. Tap the challenge your post is associated with.

Step 5: If you want to nominate another Instagram user to participate in the challenge, type their username. Note: You can change the color of this nomination text by tapping the colorful circle at the top of the screen.

Step 6: Tap the user’s profile picture above your device’s keyboard.

Step 7: You can repeat Steps 5 and 6 to nominate multiple users. When you’re done editing the sticker, tap “Done” in the top-right corner of the screen.

From there, you can rotate, resize and drag the sticker around the screen to best fit your post before sharing it.

The test is a response to the changes in how people shopped for beauty products during the coronavirus pandemic, and it enables shoppers in the U.K. to get blush, lipstick or mascara samples delivered straight to their doors by interacting with a smart speaker.

Nars enlisted the help of voice-activated sampling company Send Me a Sample to enable Spotify listeners to request samples via Alexa or Google Assistant, while The Story Lab and Nars worked with Spotify to deliver ads specifically via smart speakers, encouraging listeners to say, “Ask Send Me a Sample for Nars.”

The campaign started this week and will run for eight weeks.

Spotify U.K. head of sales Rakesh Patel said in a statement, “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Nars and The Story Lab to deliver this innovative voice-activated ad campaign. At Spotify, we know there is huge potential within audio for advertisers, and it’s fantastic that Nars is utilizing the Spotify platform in a new way to get its products into the hands of our shared audiences. We see voice as a huge growth area within the industry, and we’re excited to be able to deliver screen-less advertising solutions for brands.”

The Story Labs senior partnership manager Hannah Scott added, “During the current climate, we have had to adapt our way of engaging with our audience. Delivering samples directly to consumers’ doors is a great workaround and something we hope can add a bit of delight during these times, as the user has a blush, lipstick or mascara sample to choose from. Given that people in lockdown are tuning into their smart speakers more than ever, collaborating with Spotify was the perfect fit.”

CEO Susan Wojcicki revealed the news in her latest update on YouTube’s priorities for creators and users.

She provided an example of the type of content the new fund is aimed at elevating: YouTube is hosting a livestreamed fundraising event Saturday (June 13), Bear Witness, Take Action, produced by YouTube Originals and featuring creators, artists, public figures and activists in roundtable discussions and musical performances.

Donations will benefit the Equal Justice Initiative.

Wojcicki added that YouTube’s Spotlight channel will feature content on racial justice issues throughout June, including the latest perspectives from the Black community, historical content, educational videos and coverage of the ongoing protests.

She shifted gears to the issues of hate and harassment, saying that YouTube removed more than 100,000 videos and 100 million comments for those reasons during the first quarter of 2020 alone.

Wojcicki said YouTube is examining how its policies work for everyone, specifically the Black community, with the goal of ensuring that Black users, artists and creators can share their stories without being exposed to hateful, white supremacist and bullying content.

She wrote, “I’m committed to listening to Black employees at YouTube, to Black creators, to Black artists, to leaders in the Black community and to Black users who tune in to YouTube every day. There is much work to do to advance racial equity in the long-term, and these efforts will continue in the months and years ahead.”

Wojcicki concluded, “Over the past few weeks, we’ve grieved together as the Black community has endured more senseless acts of racial terror and violence. We know that for many, tragedies like these are a persistent reminder of the harm caused by systemic racism. They also compound the toll of the pandemic, which disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities in the U.S. and abroad. At YouTube, we believe Black lives matter, and we all need to do more to dismantle systemic racism. We join in protest against the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many others before them.”