TikTok a Prime Spot for News Consumption
Half of Gen-Z TikTok users say keeping up with politics is one of the reasons they watch content on the platform. A new survey from the Pew Research Center found that young people are logging on to TikTok to stay abreast of developing political issues and stories in the run-up to this year’s election. General news stories are also popular among older adults, with 41% of 30 to 49-year-olds saying it’s the main reason they use the app.
SEOs Assess Google’s Latest Core Update
Google’s second major search update of the year has launched. The next month is set to be challenging for SEOs as they track rankings and try to understand the latest tweaks. The August 2024 core update had a rocky start after a ranking bug was spotted and confirmed by Google, which was finally fixed on Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, publishers are reporting significant fluctuations on social media, and SERPs are likely to remain volatile for some time.
Cristiano Ronaldo Launches “UR” YouTube Channel
Cristiano Ronaldo, the most followed person on social media, launched a new YouTube channel on Wednesday. The former Manchester United star will discuss a range of topics, including “family, wellness, nutrition, preparation, recovery, education, and business” on his channel, “UR Cristiano”. It’s already proving to be a huge success; the channel broke the record for the fastest time to reach 1 million subscribers, and by Thursday afternoon, that figure had skyrocketed to over 20 million.
X Users on the Decline in Europe
A mass exodus of users from X hasn’t materialised, despite the divisive nature of Elon Musk’s management over the past two years. However, user numbers are declining slowly. New data shows that monthly active users (MAUs) in Europe fell from 112k in February to 106k in August. A similar trend is occurring in the UK, where daily active users (DAUs) remain above 6 million but are trending lower. In contrast, Threads usage is gradually increasing.
Google AIO Sources Match Organic Search Results
UK users will have noticed AI Overviews (AIOs) in Google results for the first time following its recent launch here. A new study has found that the sources cited in AIOs now closely match those in organic results. Based on an analysis of 36,000 keywords, SEO platform seoClarity found there was a 99.5% overlap between AIO sources and organic results. This marks a significant shift from earlier in the year when roughly 94% of sources in Google’s AI-powered search experience differed from the top ten results.
Instagram Adds MySpace-like Song Feature
Finally, Instagram is taking a nostalgic turn by allowing users to add songs to their profiles, reminiscent of a popular feature on MySpace. Unfortunately, the music won’t autoplay for visitors. However, users can choose from a wide selection of tracks in Instagram’s library of licensed music. By navigating to “edit profile”, users can select a 30-second snippet of a song, which can then be played and paused by anyone viewing their profile.
