TikTok releases season 2 of its ad industry talk show ‘Made For TikTok’, Sir Elton John turns into a QR code for Pride and someone needs to tell Twitter that curiosity kills the cat. ‍

This week, TikTok releases season 2 of its ad industry talk show ‘Made For TikTok’, Sir Elton John turns into a QR code for Pride and someone needs to tell Twitter that curiosity kills the cat. 

‍

A talk show for the ad industry, by the ad industry.

TikTok has released a new season of ‘Made For TikTok’, its industry talk show on how to make branded content specifically for the platform and its audience. Season 2 sees the platform engage in some intimate pre-pillow talk, with a late-night talk show featuring a unique group of creators and complete with interviews and comedy sketches. “Our goal for this series was to help advertisers create TikTok-first strategies, with guidance from experts who speak the language of the creative ad industry,'' it wrote, adding that it wanted to introduce people to insights and solutions in a way that was actually entertaining. Guests of the series include Oliver McAteer, the Head of Development for an award-winning creative agency who developed one of the platform’s most culturally influential campaigns, and Sophie Jameson, Chief TikTok Officer for NERF. In other words, the people who tick as well as they talk. So get comfy and tune in. It’s quality watching.

‍

Elton John turns into a QR code for Pride 

We must never let the sun go down on Sir Elton John, who has launched one of the most innovative Pride campaigns to date. The singer has partnered with Clear Channel and Ogilvy UK’s Proud network to transform his face into an LGBT-QR code to appear across European cities all month. The campaign will see thousands of digital OOH screens turned into donation touchpoints powered by the LGBT-QR codes, in an effort to raise money, while also tackling tokensitic support. Matt Waksmam, strategic partner at Ogilvy UK, said: “While the pandemic normalised QR codes, we saw an opportunity to use creativity to transform a traditionally functional format into a new fundraising platform. Who better to partner with than one of the world’s most recognised LGBTQ+icons, Elton John?” No one, Waksman. You’re right on the money. 

‍

Twitter shares new research on offensive warning prompts

Twitter has shared new research into the behavioural impact of its offensive warning prompts. The peer-reviewed study of over 200,000 prompts, conducted in late 2021, found that prompts had both immediate and long-term effects on user behaviour, with the impact often extending past the moment of posting. According to the research, prompted users were 20% less likely to compose prompt-eligible Tweets and received fewer offensive replies themselves. “This represents a broader and sustained change and implies that receiving prompts may help users be more cognizant of avoiding potentially offensive content,” it wrote. The study is a follow up of an initial test in 2020, that saw the platform encourage users to stop and reconsider a potentially harmful or offensive reply before hitting send. Once prompted, users had a moment opportunity to reflect, make edits, delete, or to send the reply as is. “While it was clear that prompts cause people to reconsider their replies, we wanted to know how prompts influence outcomes on Twitter over time,” arguing that platforms needed to be more proactive rather than reactive in the effort to stem abuse online.

‍