TikTok Caught Between Trump’s Pen and Beijing’s Pause

Does anyone actually need this? Meta has introduced its latest AI experiment: a personalized feed of AI-generated video clips, branded as “Vibes.” The name may sound trendy, but the concept itself is worth examining. As the promotional images show, Vibes delivers a full-screen stream of AI-created video clips, all generated within the Meta AI app. Users will be able to swipe through the feed, much like TikTok or Reels, browsing a collection of strange, almost-but-not-quite lifelike creations—each hovering uneasily in the realm of the uncanny. The second screenshot reveals the editor interface, where people can create their own AI clips or remix existing ones. This remixing capability is something Meta is eager to highlight: “With Vibes, you can start from scratch, work with content you already have, or remix a video from the feed to make it your own. Add new visuals, layer in music, and adjust styles to match your taste. And if you see a Meta AI video on Instagram, you can tap through to remix it in the Meta AI app.” Notably, the Meta AI app also doubles as the home base for the company’s AI-powered glasses, signaling Meta’s ambition to turn the app into a central hub for its AI ventures. On one hand, that’s preferable to flooding Facebook and Instagram feeds with yet more AI detritus. But realistically, much of the content created in Vibes will inevitably spill into those platforms anyway. Meta has even streamlined the process, making it simple to share Vibes clips across its wider ecosystem. And why wouldn’t people do just that? Meta has made it effortless to churn out AI content—content that scammers, spammers, and opportunists will no doubt exploit in the hope of catching enough engagement to profit. From Meta’s perspective, this is a success story, a way to showcase how far its generative AI tools have advanced. The pitch is simple: you can create anything you can imagine, simply by typing it into existence. But the obvious question remains: why would people want to? Most AI-generated video clips are neither creative nor original. More often than not, they are unsettling—details slightly off, faces distorted, gestures unnatural. They resemble hallucinations or fever dreams, the kind of imagery that triggers discomfort rather than delight. Of course, there are talented digital artists pushing the boundaries of AI creativity. But opening the door to everyone rarely raises the standard. Instead, it risks creating a flood of mediocre, soulless content—produced by nobody, reflecting nothing of lived human experience. Nevertheless, Meta seems enthusiastic. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has even shared some of his personal favorite clips from the new feature. And the technology will improve. Meta recently announced a partnership with Midjourney to strengthen its video generation models. Future clips may look sharper, more realistic, more compelling. Yet in the end, they will still amount to an endless scroll of synthetic media—AI artifacts that, beyond demonstrating technical capability, add little substantive value. To be clear, AI as a whole holds vast promise. There are applications where it is already driving real innovation and benefit. Even visual generation tools like this could prove useful, for example in designing immersive VR environments. But the emphasis on AI video feeds feels like a misstep—more likely to flood the internet with fabricated imagery and misinformation than to provide meaningful engagement. Still, Meta is convinced this will gain traction. Interestingly, Elon Musk has floated a similar concept: reviving Vine with an AI twist. The resemblance between “Vibes” and “Vine” is unlikely to be accidental. The result could be an endless cascade of AI snippets: people morphing into animals, cartoon characters spouting offensive dialogue, racial stereotypes, or more troublingly, convincing fakes—fabricated terror attacks, UFO “sightings,” or staged political brawls. Why any platform would actively encourage this remains unclear. Yet Meta is betting on it. So, if you’re curious, you can try Vibes for yourself. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Pew Research has released its latest report examining how people use social media as a news source, highlighting the growing role of these platforms in shaping public understanding of current events. This trend is significant. Over time, more individuals have come to depend on social platforms for news and information, influencing how they form opinions on key issues and where they stand on political candidates. In many ways, social media now defines the way society interprets the world—whether one actively engages with it or not. That makes it critical to track the latest shifts in consumption habits, and to understand how people are keeping themselves informed. According to the findings, Facebook and YouTube remain the leading social platforms for news consumption, though both TikTok and Instagram are steadily climbing in relevance. The data shows that 38% of U.S. adults regularly get news from Facebook, followed closely by YouTube at 36%. Meanwhile, TikTok and Instagram are tied at 20%. By contrast, X (formerly Twitter) has seen its role as a news hub diminish since Elon Musk’s acquisition, while Threads has made its first appearance in Pew’s survey. The persistence of Facebook as a primary news source is striking—and for some, troubling. The platform has shifted away from third-party fact-checking, relying instead on crowd-sourced Community Notes, which have proven less effective at filtering out misinformation. Compounding this is the influx of AI-generated content, which raises questions about accuracy. With so many Americans still depending on Facebook for updates, the risks of distortion remain significant. At the same time, Facebook continues to be the most widely used social platform worldwide. While user attention is increasingly fragmented across newer apps, Facebook retains its position as a central connector—and, as the data makes clear, a critical source of news and information for many. Overall, just over half of U.S. adults (53%) say they get at least some news from social media. That figure has remained fairly consistent in recent years. Another revealing detail is how regular users of each platform turn to them specifically for news. Facebook appears to have regained ground as a news provider over the past two years, perhaps aided by the adoption of Community Notes. Meanwhile, TikTok and Instagram are becoming vital sources of news for their user bases, particularly among younger demographics. This shift underscores a generational change in where people look for information and how they stay updated. Nowhere is this clearer than with TikTok. Younger audiences are disproportionately likely to rely on TikTok for news, cementing its rise as both a cultural hub and a distribution channel for current events. That explains why politicians have started embracing TikTok clips to reach voters directly—and why former president Donald Trump has publicly credited the app with playing a role in his 2024 victory. But TikTok’s growing influence also amplifies security concerns. U.S. officials remain wary of the platform’s ties to China, fearing it could be leveraged to shape public opinion abroad. The threat of a U.S. ban has loomed for years, though the app appears to have sidestepped that outcome for now. Still, its increasing weight as a news provider highlights just how much influence it wields. In essence, TikTok and Instagram are expanding their roles as news sources, particularly for younger Americans, while Facebook continues to anchor broader public opinion. Whether that is a positive or negative development is open to debate. What’s clear is that social platforms remain powerful drivers of perception, shaping how people see political issues and the world around them. These findings serve as a reminder of the outsized role social media plays in modern news consumption—and why tracking its evolution is essential to understanding today’s information landscape. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!

Social media ad spending surged 20.2% year over year in Q2, far outpacing earlier projections of 12.4% growth and adding roughly $4.9 billion in value, according to the latest update from WARC. The researcher’s Q3 global report underscores how the digital triopoly of Amazon, Google, and Meta has only tightened its grip on the advertising market during a period of economic uncertainty. The data suggests that brands unleashed a wave of activity in Q2, a “pre-tariff” window in which many rushed to stockpile goods and push value messaging ahead of anticipated cost increases. Retailers were at the forefront of this surge. WARC tracked sharp increases in retail ad outlay on social platforms, particularly on Meta-owned Instagram (up 18.8%) and TikTok (up 56.8%), which remains mired in questions over its U.S. future. Retail has now become the largest advertising category on both platforms, according to WARC’s analysis supported by Nielsen. Technology and consumer electronics — sectors also exposed to tariff risk — likewise posted significant lifts in social ad spend. Looking ahead, WARC forecasts that global ad spending will be stronger in 2025 than previously anticipated. Full-year growth is now expected to hit 7.4%, reaching $1.17 trillion. That represents the first upward revision WARC has issued in more than a year, a 1.2-point jump from June estimates. The momentum is being driven by digital-first platforms, which will account for nine in 10 dollars of incremental market growth. WARC characterized this as a “pre-tariff windfall.” Social media is set to capture the largest share of new ad dollars at 40.6%, followed by non-retail search (22.2%) and retail media (21.5%). Just three players — Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta — are expected to claim more than half (55.8%) of all global ad spend this year, excluding China. The broader takeaway is that digital has cemented itself as the central growth engine of the post-pandemic advertising economy, despite recurring bouts of macroeconomic volatility. WARC projects that the global ad market’s nominal value will nearly double from 2020 levels by 2027, reaching around $1.36 trillion. By contrast, traditional media channels — newspapers, broadcast television, and radio — continue to decline. Still, not all analysts share WARC’s optimism. As tariffs begin to bite, U.S. automotive and retail marketers are cutting back on digital spending. A separate report from eMarketer this week suggested a more cautious outlook, forecasting U.S. digital ad spending to grow 9.5% year over year in 2025 to $338.27 billion — two points lower than earlier projections. Informa, which owns a majority stake in Informa TechTarget — the publisher of Marketing Dive and Social Media Today — also has a stake in WARC. Informa has no role in Marketing Dive’s editorial coverage. 📢 If you're interested in Facebook Ads Account, don't hesitate to connect with us!🔹 https://linktr.ee/Adshinepro💬 We're always ready to assist you!