Demojo’s Tabloid Tuesday – Issue #7

Every week, we will be sharing news related to the advertising industry, changes coming to our favourite social media platforms, and other relevant news which might be of interest to you! Here’s this week’s top headlines:

Threads begins experimenting with an alternative to hashtags

Meta is testing a new tagging feature for Threads as an alternative to hashtags. Users will use a hashtag to create or add to a topic’s conversation, but instead of showing up as a hashtagged word, Threads converts it to a blue-text hyperlink.

YouTube helps record companies flag AI fakes

YouTube is rolling out new guidelines that allow record companies to request the removal of songs that use AI-generated versions of artists’ voices. Earlier this year, fake AI-generated music became increasingly popular. The platform said it will trial the new controls with a selected group of labels and distributors before a wider rollout.

Instagram launches new creation tools for Stories and Reels

Instagram is launching a host of new creation tools across the platform. One new feature will allow users to create custom stickers for their Reels and Stories using AI. Driven by Meta’s Segment Anything AI model, the stickers can be created by uploading photos or videos from a phone’s Camera Roll, or choosing from eligible photos and videos on Instagram.

That’s enough social news for now, so let’s move on over to other marketing news.

Grab plasters Times Square’s Nasdaq Tower with mouthwatering Southeast Asian dishes

Southeast Asian dishes such as Nasi Lemak Ayam Goreng, Siamese boat noodles, and crispy Sisig have taken over Grabs billboards on the Nasdaq Tower in Times Square as the brand looks to give 53 homegrown merchants a global stage. In doing so, Grab aims to reinforce the breadth and diversity of the food selection that travellers to Southeast Asia can enjoy on the Grab app.

In Other News

The Malaysian government and Google have reportedly inked a strategic collaboration aimed at creating inclusive growth opportunities for Malaysians and local companies. The collaboration seeks to help businesses to advance their digital competitiveness through upskilling programmes, investments in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, and cloud-first policies, according to a report by The Star.

In case you missed it, Twitch unveils new Privacy Center to raise awareness of data privacy.