This week in Digital & Technology - 18th Aug
The social media battleground continues to see platforms vying for market share, with Instagram launching its own TikTok-like Reels and Snap testing a new music feature for Snapchat. Meanwhile, speculation around TikTok’s potential new owners – including Microsoft and now Twitter – continues to grow.
HEADLINES
With perfect timing, Instagram launches Reels, dubbed the TikTok clone
Snap brokers increased rights to add music to Snaps
Facebook adds new sponsored post options for Groups, allowing brands to target communities
WhatsApp has launched a fact-checking feature to stop the spread of misinformation
Twitch Prime rebrands as Prime Gaming
INSIGHTS
From self-care to social connection and, of course, sourdough, here are YouTube’s rising trends of COVID-19
How two twins listening to old classics are making Dolly Parton and Phil Collins trend
‘NeRF in the Wild’ may sound like a new craze, but it’s structuring collections of photos into beautiful 3D images
COOL
Google faked their own Pixel4a launch with an incomplete website
TwikTwok converts Twitter’s top videos into a TikTok feed
IBM built an avatar to answer questions about marine litter
TikTok announced the first recipients of their $1 billion creator program
Capture is a Fitbit for carbon emissions
Modeling nominative determinism – how to use AI to choose your baby name
DEEP READS
What will (inevitable) increasing regulation of tech look like?
How cheap and easy deepfakes are getting closer to the real thing