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.

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