Monthly Brandtech Blend – November 2022

Elon Musk announces a new paid plan for verified Twitter accounts

Days after the acquisition of the social media giant by Musk was finally concluded, the new Twitter boss announced a new paid plan with a price tag of $8 per month with the aim of creating a new revenue stream for the company. 

This new plan will allow users to have the blue tick verification indicating their profile is a verified account. Some of the features this new plan promises include fewer ads, priority in replies, mentions, and search, as well as the option to post longer videos.

Critics however have suggested that introducing a fee for verified accounts, could result in even more disinformation.

With many social media platforms already battling against low-quality information, will this move make it more difficult to filter out unreliable sources?

Read more about this topic in Tech Crunch, Le Monde and BBC

TikTok failing to filter false claims and rhetoric in the weeks leading up to US midterms

As the US Midterm elections approach, TikTok is facing criticism, yet again, for its mishandling of false claims and misinformation around the elections, such as false claims about voting requirements and content dissuading people from voting. 

With close to 40% of Gen Z relying on both TikTok and Instagram as their primary search engines, according to Google Internal data, election misinformation on these platforms is ever more concerning.

The social media giant has responded to these claims with a number of policies aimed at combatting electoral fraud, but will it be enough? With TikTok being particularly susceptible to misinformation due to its design and Algorithm, it will take a lot more for the platform to fight fake news.

Watch this space!

Read more about it in The Guardian

Streaming giant Netflix will finally roll out its ad-supported tier

After a long-awaited time, Netflix’s new ad-supported tier will be finally rolling out as of November 3rd.

What can users expect with this new tier? For $6.99 per month, they will still have access to a huge number of film and TV shows, but will now have to watch between four and five minutes of ads per hour, before and during their show, for a duration of 15 to 30 seconds.

According to data analysis from Omdia, close to 60% of global Netflix subscribers will be on the ad-supported tier by 2027. 

After a significant decline for the streaming giant, will this new rollout plan be the answer to Netflix’s problems?

Read more in The Tech Portal and TechCrunch

Alphabet faces slowest rate of growth since 2013

With an overall economic crisis, coupled with rising inflation and interest rates, Big Tech companies have also been hit by these unprecedented times.

The Google parent’s overall revenue for the year ended September 30, 2022, amounted to $206 billion while the total costs and expenses for that period climbed to $150 billion. The announcement of the earnings report resulted in a 7% drop in the company shares.

Moving forward, the company will concentrate on the long-term strategy by investing responsibly and being more flexible in terms of the economic environment, as stated by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet.

Get more details in The Tech Portal

The startup, WATI, raises $23 million in Series B funding

​Not only is WhatsApp used by over 2 billion people worldwide but it is also an essential tool for many small businesses. However, WhatsApp for Business may soon find it difficult to meet all businesses’ needs so ​this is where WATI (WhatsApp Team Inbox) comes in. 

With its latest round of funding, led by Tiger Global, the start-up can now scale its product. 

So what does WATI offer exactly? The tool will assist ​non-technical businesses in scaling their customer support, engagement, and acquisition thanks to its CRM.

Read more about this latest news in TechCrunch