Welcome back to this week’s TEAM LEWIS Social Round-Up.
This week Meta has managed to upset the publishing industry with its AI plans, TikTok is rapidly becoming an app for absolutely everything, and YouTube is testing a more forgiving approach to content moderation.
Elsewhere, X is paying creators to make more videos, Threads is experimenting with private conversations, and Discord is making its communities easier for Google to find.
Let’s get into it 👇
Latest News
🤖 Meta delays AI-related business terms after publisher backlash
Meta has postponed changes to its business terms following concerns that they could allow the company to scrape publishers’ websites for AI products without compensation. Meta disputes that interpretation, but regulators and media organisations aren’t convinced.
For PR and content teams, it’s another reminder that ownership, distribution and AI training rights are becoming increasingly important. Apparently, not everyone is thrilled about their content becoming somebody else’s training material. 👉 Read More
📱 TikTok wants to run your entire life
TikTok is rapidly becoming a super app, adding restaurant recommendations, hotel bookings, shopping, games, sports scores and even payment services. Its new Must Eat restaurant guide draws on 40 million posts and comments, while TikTok GO lets users book hotels and experiences without leaving the app.
For marketers, it’s a big shift from content discovery to actual transactions. Soon you’ll be able to find a restaurant, book a holiday, buy an outfit, send your mate money and watch 47 videos of a dancing sausage. All without leaving TikTok. What a time to be alive. 👉 Read More
🎬 YouTube tests a 30-day warning before channel termination
YouTube is reportedly testing a system that gives some channels facing termination for spam a 30-day locked period to address violations or appeal, rather than immediately losing access.
For creators and brands investing heavily in YouTube, this could provide a valuable opportunity to resolve issues before years of content disappear. A welcome change from the traditional platform approach of deleting everything and explaining very little. 👉 Read More
👥 Threads is testing a Close Friends feature
Threads is testing a feature that lets users share posts with a private group of up to 50 people. It’s currently being trialled in Ireland, Italy and Japan, following Instagram’s familiar Close Friends approach.
It’s another sign that social interaction is shifting towards smaller, more personal spaces. Great for genuine conversations, slightly less convenient for brands hoping everyone will see their latest announcement. 👉 Read More
🔍 Discord is opening its communities to Google
Discord is preparing to make eligible public servers discoverable through web search, with server pages arriving on 16 November and selected public messages potentially appearing in search results from December.
For community managers, this could create new discovery opportunities, but it’s also a good reason to review privacy settings. That casual conversation from six months ago might suddenly have a much bigger audience. 👉 Read More
💰 X is paying creators to post more videos
X’s Video Kickstart Bonus is an invitation-only programme rewarding creators who publish 15 original vertical videos across 15 different days within a campaign period. The programme launched earlier, but its official guidance remains relevant for creators considering participation.
It’s another attempt to attract more original video content to the platform. The good news is creators can reuse their own videos from elsewhere, provided they’re watermark-free. Even X knows nobody wants to watch another TikTok logo bouncing around the screen. 👉 Read More
🔧 Quick Tip of the Week
Is your brand ready for social search?
With TikTok introducing restaurant guides, hotel bookings and local discovery tools, it’s worth checking how easily people can actually find your brand.
Here’s a quick five-minute exercise:
- Search TikTok for your brand, product or business category, just as a customer would.
- Look at which videos appear first. Are they yours, competitors’ or creators’?
- Check whether your captions, on-screen text and location tags clearly describe what you’re offering.
- Identify one common customer question and turn the answer into a short, searchable video.
The takeaway: Social content isn’t just competing for attention anymore. It’s competing to be the answer when somebody searches for something.
And if TikTok is going to become Google, TripAdvisor and Booking.com rolled into one, you probably want your brand to show up somewhere.
✨ Campaigns We Love ✨
⚽ Mary Fowler scores a cultured partnership
Chobani has teamed up with Matildas star Mary Fowler for its new Game Changer protein drink campaign. It celebrates challenging expectations and pushing boundaries. A clever partnership that gives a protein drink something more interesting to talk about than protein.
👉 That’s a protein-powered goal
🎄 Woolworths wishes you a Merry Snackmas
Woolworths has launched Tastes Like Christmas, celebrating Australia’s festive food traditions. With a Christmas carol, social content and personalised Spotify playlists, it’s a tasty reminder that Christmas advertising doesn’t always need Santa. Sometimes a pavlova will do.
👉 All I want for Christmas is food
🗓️ Mark Your Calendars
Opportunities to celebrate this week
- Thursday November 5 – World Tsunami Awareness Day 🌊
- Friday November 6 – National Nachos Day 🧀
- Sunday November 8 – Diwali / Deepavali 🪔 & Tongue Twister Day 👅
- Tuesday November 10 – World Science Day 🔬
And next…
- Wednesday November 11 – Remembrance Day 🌺
- Thursday 12 November – Happy Hour Day 🍹
- Friday 13 November – World Kindness Day 💛 & Friday the 13th 😱
- Saturday 14 November – World Diabetes Day 💙
- Sunday 15 November – Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day 🧊
- Monday 16 November – International Day for Tolerance 🌍
That’s a wrap for this week!
I’m off to see if TikTok can book my dinner, organise my Christmas shopping and plan my next holiday. At this point, I might as well let it run my life.
See you next week, bye 👋
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