December 11, 2023
Studio
TikTok introduces extended captions
TikTok is becoming the new Google.
The platform has increased its video description limit from 300 characters to 2,200 - a 730% increase. *audible gasp*.
Announcing the update, it said; “this allows you to express more details about your creations, describing what your videos show, giving you the opportunity to get closer to your audience, generating more engagement while becoming more searchable and better recommended by TikTok to viewers.”
But really, the extension is a bit of a power play.
Core Google services, including Search and Maps, are being impacted by a growing preference among users to use social media as the first step in the discovery process. More and more users are turning to Instagram or TikTok instead of engines to search, learn or discover - to the extent Google even confirmed that it was working on deals that would allow it to index TikTok videos in search.
And the new character count will serve to keep users in-app, and shift TikTok from a push driven commerce platform, where sellers seek buyers, to pull driven commerce, where buyers go to discover sellers, transforming it into an experiential search and commerce hub.
Bossed it.
Boohoo x Kourtney Kardashian
Global e-retailer Boohoo has announced that it is partnering with Kourtney Kardashian Barker on a new sustainability journey.
Yep.
They’ll be releasing 46 limited-edition pieces of clothing made from ‘recycled fibres, traceable cotton, recycled sequins and recycled polyester’ - because 46 is the *exact* sweet spot to gloss over an entire business built on fast-fashion and unethical working conditions.
In a press release on the collaboration, it said the partnership would see the delivery of ‘two capsule collections that have been created in tandem with a journey of investigation into opportunities for creating a more sustainable fashion future, discussing the challenges of sustainability in fashion and helping people make informed choices.’
Our advice? Take it with an entire shaker of salt.
The collaboration comes as Boohoo ramps up its plans for US expansion, with the Kardashian capsule collection launched at New York fashion week and the entire thing being documented as a social content series. And comes with no word on any changes to its current practices or business model.
Iran’s Internet Shutdown
Iranians are being silenced.
The government has shut off the internet in parts of Tehran and Kurdistan, and blocked access to platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp, in an attempt to curb a growing protest movement that has relied on social media to document dissent.
It comes as anti-regime demonstrations spilled into cyberspace, with thousands of people across the country continuing to protest the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s morality police.
The government began shutting the internet down on September 19, while the clampdown against Instagram and WhatsApp started on September 21. Since then, multiple internet-monitoring organisations, including Kentik, and the Open Observatory of Network Interference, have documented the disruptions.
It is the largest internet shutdowns since November 2019 and is raising fears about what is happening on the ground.
The internet shutdowns are an extension of the violence and repression that is happening in the physical space. Social media is a lifeline to the mobilisation of protestors, not only to coordinate gatherings but to amplify acts of resistance and to document what is happening for the rest of the world.
Without them, protesters don’t stand a chance.
Keep on top of the news and share what you can. Bring light to the blackout.
