This Week in Digital Media & Technology - 31st May 2021

Amazon has entered an agreement to buy MGM Studios. The deal, valued at ~US$9B, is subject to regulatory approval. One US Representative has already flagged the acquisition as a concern and urged Congress to stop it.

twitter’s subscription service looks like it will be called “Twitter blue” and start at US$2.99 per month. Subscriptions unlock colored twitter themes, a reader mode for Twitter threads, and Twitter collections (for saving and organizing tweets).

In other Twitter news, Twitter is working on reactions to tweets that include “like, cheer, hmm, sad, haha,” and Twitter Spaces is now available to access via the Twitter website.

Instagram is, after a year of testing, giving users the option to hide Instagram likes. Users can hide public like counts everywhere or on a per-post basis and turn likes on/off after posting. The changes are also coming to Facebook. FYI, the Instagram changes have not yet rolled out on the desktop web version of Instagram.

TikTok has struck a partnership deal with SiriusXM-Pandora. This includes plans to launch TikTok radio on Sirius-XM, exclusive TikTok curated playlists on Pandora, and re-airing Pandora Live events on TikTok.

Amazon’s advertising business is now twice the size of the combined ad revenue of Snap, twitter, Roku, and Pinterest.

With eCommerce increasingly important for all platforms as they compete against Amazon, Instagram has added a “Drops” label to the top of the shopping tab. US-only, the list will be curated, and users will be able to checkout within Instagram. This will roll out to other markets pretty soon.

Creator monetization seems to be all the rage at the moment. YouTube is experimenting with a digital merchandising tool for creators. Facebook Gaming has added new monetization tools, including “live breaks,” which is effectively a cut-to-a-commercial offering that streamers can manually trigger.

If you’re after a neat infographic on the Creator Economy, check this out. It has a good summary of everything from audience creation, monetization, creator tools, and more.