social media

Broadcasters Must Adapt Quickly To Keep Gen Z Engaged In News: Study

New research from Vizrt finds that 64% of Gen Z (64%) consume news on social media, showing the necessity for broadcasters to consider how to harness viewers’ attention on these platforms with live production solutions.

Illicit Content On Elon Musk’s X Draws E.U. Investigation

The inquiry is perhaps the most substantial regulatory consequence to date of X, which has seen a rise in incendiary content on the platform, according to researchers.

AI & THE MEDIA

Bigots Use AI To Make Nazi Memes On 4chan. Verified Users Post Them On X

Report: Disney, Comcast Increase Ad Spend On Instagram After Dropping X

Big U.S. companies including Walt Disney and Comcast increased advertising spending on Instagram after pausing commercials on X last month, according to Sensor Tower, as marketers flee the Elon Musk-owned social media platform over antisemitic content. Disney (DIS.N) and Comcast (CMCSA.O) lifted their U.S. spending on the app owned by Meta (META.O) by 40% and about 6% respectively in the two weeks from Nov. 20, Sensor Tower data showed. Paramount (PARA.O), meanwhile, tripled its spending on Snapchat.

Social Platforms Want Appeals Court To Intervene In Battle Over Teen Addiction

Inside The Troll Army Waging Trump’s Online Campaign

A team of meme-makers has been flooding social media with pro-Trump posts riddled with sexist and racist tropes. Donald Trump is cheering them on.

Meta To Fact-Check Threads Content

The program will roll out next year, according to executives.

As Advertisers Flee Musk’s X, Democrats Splurge On Political Ads

Democratic candidates, including Elon Musk’s most vocal critics, have spent over a million dollars to run thousands of political ads on X.

Elon Musk Twitter Takeover Lawsuit Gains Steam As Judge Advances Investors’ Claims

On Monday, a federal judge advanced a lawsuit from investors who say they suffered losses when they sold their shares in Twitter, now known as X, because of posts from Musk claiming the platform has a major issue with fake accounts and that he could wiggle out of the deal because of it. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer found that several of Musk’s statements were false or misleading, in part, because he waived due diligence.

Elon Musk Restores X Account Of Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones

Elon Musk has restored the X account of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, pointing to a poll on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that came out in favor of the Infowars host who repeatedly called the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting a hoax.

Musk Wants Supreme Court To Lift Restrictions On Tesla Tweets

X Corp. owner Elon Musk on Thursday told the Supreme Court that a restriction on his ability to tweet about Tesla violates the First Amendment. The restriction, which he agreed to as part of a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, prohibits Musk from tweeting about his car company without first obtaining approval from its lawyers. Such a restriction “is a quintessential prior restraint that the law forbids,” his lawyers say in a petition urging the Supreme Court to review the restriction.

Broadcasters Foundation Launches Social Media Campaign with ‘12 Days Of Giving’

Beginning today, each day will feature a different social media message, ranging from thank you notes from grant recipients to positive statements about radio, television and charitable giving designed to raise funds and awareness of the organization’s mission to aid broadcasters in need.

X Working To Lure Smaller Advertisers As Musk Keeps Alienating Big Brands

The social media platform has had preliminary talks with Amazon to sell ads through the e-commerce giant’s ad-buying software.

Tucker Carlson’s New Media Company Moves Toward Launch

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s new media company has begun building its base of paying subscribers as it moves toward launch, its chief executive told Reuters. “We’ve opened our site for membership pre-sales,” said Neil Patel, co-founder and CEO of the new venture. “Once we are comfortable that all of the systems are running well, launch and brand release will follow.” Patel said those paying subscribers will have access to members-only content and behind-the-scenes footage. He declined to comment on the pricing.

News Outlets Turn To Reddit As Musk’s X Descends Into Chaos

As Twitter continues to decline as a place to post news, media companies have been seeking out alternative platforms to promote their work, and more are turning to Reddit. But by promoting the article in a prominent snark subreddit, Business Insider’s Reddit account has raised questions about how media companies should navigate a new social media landscape dominated by freewheeling, self-policed groups.

Walmart The Latest Advertiser To Leave X

Walmart said on Friday it is not advertising on social media platform X, one of the latest brands to say it has dropped the Elon Musk-owned site. “We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers,” a Walmart spokesperson said.

Judge Halts TikTok Ban In Montana

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been locked in a legal battle with Montana since the state passed the ban in April.

Meta Is Struggling To Boot Pedophiles Off Facebook And Instagram

The social media company has stepped up enforcement, but its algorithms continue to promote problematic content.

Advertisers Say They Do Not Plan To Return To X After Musk’s Comments

Advertisers said on Thursday that they did not plan to reopen their wallets anytime soon with X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter, after its owner, Elon Musk, insulted brands using an expletive and told them not to spend on the platform.

X And Tivo Patent Holder Square Off In Dueling Lawsuits

X, formerly known as Twitter, is in a pair of legal battles with Adeia, an entity spun out of Xperi that holds a trove of patents, including property with ties to TiVo.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino Defends Musk’s Statement To Advertisers

Elon Musk’s “Go f–k yourselves” statement to advertisers leaving X was defended by the social media platform’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, who said that the owner “offered an apology, an explanation and an explicit point of view about our position.”

Elon Musk To Advertisers: “Go F–k Yourself”

Elon Musk made plain his view of the widespread advertiser withdrawal this month from X, formerly Twitter at the New York Times DealBook Summit. “Don’t advertise,” he urged any marketer with misgivings. “Somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising?! Blackmail me with money? Go f–k yourself. Go. F–k. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.”

Linda Yaccarino’s Very Unmerry X Mess

The former NBCUniversal ad sales chief thought she could manage the mercurial Elon Musk. Her former colleagues are baffled at the result: “She let her ego get the best of her.” (John Staley photo)

Washington Post Latest To Pause Its Advertising On X

The decision follows owner Elon Musk’s bizarre embrace of the utterly debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory on Tuesday.

X May Lose Up To $75 Million In Revenue As More Advertisers Pull Out

Internal documents show companies like Airbnb, Coca-Cola and Microsoft have halted ads, or may do so, after Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

 

At Meta, Millions Of Underage Users Were An ‘Open Secret,’ States Say

Meta “routinely documented” children under 13 on Instagram and collected their data, according to a newly unsealed complaint.

How Reece Feldman Became Hollywood Studios’ Gen Z Whisperer, One TikTok At A Time

“People of my generation know when they’re being advertised to, but they’ll accept being advertised to if it’s in their language,” says Feldman, who went from a PA to sharing the (very small) screen with Christopher Nolan and Jennifer Lawrence. (Courtesy of Tiana Michele)

Nearly 300 Brands Have Slashed Advertising On X

Of nearly 261 companies that spent over $1 million on advertising on X/Twitter from January 2022 to October 2023, 86% of them have reduced ad spending on the platform, according to estimates from MediaRadar. Brand-safety concerns remain a major problem, according to the advertising research firm. Top 10 advertisers — including AT&T, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Capital One, Nike, and Bank of America — have reduced spending by 70% to 97%, according to the report.

Meta Awarded $36M Over Ad-Fraud Scheme Targeting Agency Employees

A federal magistrate judge on Tuesday recommended that Meta Platforms be awarded a $36 million default judgment against four residents of Hanoi, Vietnam, who hijacked the accounts of advertising and marketing agency employees in order to perpetrate an ad fraud scheme.

Trump Sues MSNBC, Reuters, 18 Other News Orgs, Claims They ‘Coordinated’ in Misreporting $73M Truth Social Losses

Donald Trump is still very angry over the erroneous reporting about the financial losses at his Twitter clone, Truth Social, and in a new lawsuit filed Monday, the ex-president claimed that the reports were actually a vast media conspiracy involving “no less than 20 major media outlets.”

Musk’s X Sues Liberal Advocacy Group Media Matters

X filed a lawsuit against the liberal advocacy group on Monday, saying it manufactured a report to show advertisers’ posts alongside neo-Nazi and white nationalist posts in order to “drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”

Linda Yaccarino: ‘Deceptive Attacks’ Are Fueling X Advertiser Exodus

In a note to employees, the X CEO said that reports of antisemitic content on the platform come from a “misleading and manipulated article.”

COMMENTARY

As Social Media Gains Younger News Consumers, More Legacy TV Concerns?

Forget about Facebook, Twitter, and Snap when it comes to around 60% of the average U.S. citizen getting their news — at times — from now mainstream social media platforms. More alarming to some are younger news consumers flocking to newer fringe social media sites. Should we be upset that 32% of 18-29-year-olds now “regularly” get their news from TikTok, according to the Pew Research Center?

NEWS ANALYSIS

X’s Unique Un-Sales Strategy: CEO Linda Yaccarino Woos Advertisers; Owner Elon Musk Drives Them Away

Social media outlet X won’t mark the spot for Madison Avenue until its two top executives align around a single approach.

Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery Latest Companies To Suspend X Advertising

Sony Pictures has pulled the plug for now on any advertising on X/Twitter. In what is a rising tide, Sony is the latest Hollywood and tech company to leave the platform over X owner Elon Musk‘s retweet of a distinctly anti-semitic post about 48 hours ago. Musk’s promises Friday of new protections on X against hate speech has drawn some very rare praise from usual foil the Anti-Defamation League, but the moves seem to have done little to nothing to stop the growing corporate boycott.

Lionsgate Suspends Advertising On X

Lionsgate Entertainment has suspended advertising on Elon Musk-owned X, a spokesperson for the company said on Friday. Apple is also pausing all advertising on X, Axios reported, after Musk backed an antisemitic post on the social media platform earlier this week.

X Races To Contain Damage After Elon Musk Endorses Antisemitic Post

IBM, a major advertiser on X, has pulled its spending from the social media platform, whose employees are grappling with what to tell its other advertisers, according to internal messages. X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, and others at the company scrambled on Thursday to contain the fallout.

Facebook And YouTube Remain Top Social Sites For News: Report

A new report finds 30% of U.S. adults say they regularly get news from the Meta-owned site. YouTube comes in a close second with 26%, according to the analysis published by Pew Research Center on Wednesday.

Meta Allows Ads Claiming Rigged 2020 Election On Facebook, Instagram

Meta Platforms will let political ads on Facebook and Instagram question the legitimacy of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, one of several changes the social-media company and other platforms have made to loosen constraints on campaign advertising for 2024. Meta made the change last year, but it hasn’t gained wide attention. The company decided to allow political advertisers to say past elections were “rigged” or “stolen” but prevented them from questioning the legitimacy of ongoing and coming elections.

 

Trump’s Truth Social Has Lost $73M Since Launch, New Filing Shows

The numbers are the first time that any internal financial details on the social platform have been shared publicly, and they suggest that while Trump has made Truth Social his primary social media platform, it has not been translating into meaningful revenue for the tech startup, which is owned by Trump Media & Technology Group.