TikTok Salutes Service Members With Star-Studded Veteran’s Day Live Broadcast

Instagram has rolled out a new “Competitive Insights” feature within its Professional Dashboard, offering creators and brands another way to gauge their performance in relation to others in their niche.  As shown in screenshots shared by digital marketing advisor Sarah Roizman, business and creator accounts are now beginning to see the “Competitive Insights” option appear in their Professional Dashboard menu. With this feature, you can select up to ten accounts to benchmark your performance against, comparing key metrics like follower growth and posting frequency across Reels, feed posts, ads, and more.  While that sounds promising, the comparison itself remains fairly surface-level. The tool provides basic numerical data — how often someone posts versus how many followers they gain — but doesn’t dive deeper into nuanced performance analytics. Interestingly, it does let you view some post-level performance details, even for accounts that have hidden their like counts. However, it still doesn’t provide comprehensive cumulative metrics, such as visualized comparisons across engagement or reach. The setup also limits you to one-on-one comparisons rather than viewing multiple competitors in a grouped analysis. In short, it’s intriguing — but perhaps not transformative, depending on your goals. Follower growth, for instance, might not be the most meaningful metric anymore. What most marketers actually want to know is how effectively posts drive clicks or meaningful actions. If Instagram were to integrate click-through data into these comparisons, it would unlock a far richer understanding of what types of content truly convert. As it stands, follower counts may still offer some value in gauging reach or audience expansion, but they don’t capture the full picture. At best, these new insights might help you contextualize your own growth trajectory — and maybe justify your performance when presenting results to clients or internal teams. Yet, the broader landscape of social media analytics is shifting rapidly. With algorithms now prioritizing personalized content over chronological feeds, user behavior has evolved — people engage with content based on relevance, not necessarily loyalty to a page they follow. As a result, views, shares, and saves are becoming the real indicators of impact. And, crucially, those engagement metrics aren’t included in this comparison. Which leaves this new tool in an odd middle ground — useful in concept, but lacking in execution. To truly maximize social media marketing outcomes, your focus should be spread across three pillars: Awareness – Follower growth, engagement, shares, saves, and viewsNurturing – Likes, replies, clicks, saves, and continued viewing behaviorConversion – Clicks and share-to-click ratios (when measurable) There’s overlap between these categories, but they collectively reveal a more accurate picture of your marketing effectiveness than simple posting volume or follower growth alone ever could. So while Instagram’s Competitive Insights might serve as a decent starting point, it’s far from a comprehensive performance tool. Perhaps this is just phase one — and over time, Instagram will expand the feature to include deeper comparative metrics. Because as it stands, singular data points — especially those tied to followers — don’t tell the full story. And in today’s algorithm-driven environment, they’re starting to mean less and less. 📢 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!

TikTok seems intent on emphasizing its importance to the American public — and, perhaps more strategically, to President Trump himself — in hopes of securing its place in the U.S., its largest and most lucrative market. To that end, the platform has announced its partnership in a major Veterans Day concert event, aimed at honoring U.S. military veterans. TikTok will serve as the exclusive host of the event’s live stream. So this Friday, audiences can tune in directly on TikTok to watch the celebration unfold. As TikTok explained:“This Veterans Day, Ford Motor Company, Blue Star Families, and TikTok are joining forces to host a first-of-its-kind, livestreamed benefit concert in honor of the military community. ‘Proud to Honor: Celebrating America’s Heroes’ is dedicated to supporting service members, veterans, and the families who stand alongside them.” The concert will be broadcast exclusively on TikTok and will feature performances by several renowned artists, all lending their talents to raise funds for Veterans Service Organizations. “Designed to be social-first, TikTok creators will also participate in and promote the event, helping to drive awareness and engagement for the Veterans Service Organizations benefiting from the event’s proceeds.” In addition, TikTok is introducing a new in-app donation sticker for Veterans Service Organizations, allowing users to contribute directly to the cause before, during, and after the concert. “Viewers can make donations directly through TikTok by clicking the on-screen donation sticker to support Blue Star Families, along with Ford’s other Proud to Honor partners that assist military and veteran families.” It’s undeniably a meaningful initiative — but it also serves as an interesting move by TikTok to further entrench itself in American cultural and political life, aligning with the themes that resonate with the Trump Administration’s national priorities. For years, TikTok has been working to ease political tensions in Washington, striving to counter the narrative that it might serve as a data collection or propaganda tool for the Chinese government. The company has previously flown top TikTok creators to D.C. to advocate for the platform, encouraged users to reach out to their local representatives in support of the app, and published detailed reports outlining its economic contributions to the U.S. market.  All of these efforts are part of TikTok’s broader campaign to win favor with lawmakers and public opinion — a critical strategy as the company continues to face pressure over the Senate-approved sell-off bill, which President Trump has already delayed multiple times. Trump himself has expressed a “soft spot” for TikTok, citing his status as one of its most-followed figures. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that the platform continues to align itself with causes that resonate with Trump’s America-first messaging — not just as a PR move, but as a form of political reassurance. Still, the fate of TikTok in the U.S. likely depends less on patriotic displays and more on geopolitical negotiations. At the heart of this are economic sanctions and broader trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Some reports even suggest that for China to greenlight a TikTok sale, the U.S. may need to ease its stance on Taiwan — a stunning reflection of how deeply intertwined global politics and digital culture have become. It’s remarkable to think that an app once known for viral dances and memes could find itself at the crossroads of international diplomacy. Yet here we are — and for now, TikTok seems determined to keep proving its value to America, one concert and campaign at a time. 📢 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!

Remember that grand Oval Office signing ceremony last month, when U.S. President Donald Trump triumphantly declared that Americans should be “thankful” to him for saving TikTok? Well, as it turns out, that moment might have carried more symbolic weight than actual substance — because despite repeated claims that a U.S. TikTok deal is imminent, the Chinese government still hasn’t signed off on any proposed arrangement. And without Beijing’s approval, nothing can move forward. Earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had “positive discussions” with Chinese officials and expected a breakthrough following Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. But as that meeting concluded, it appeared that while both leaders found some common ground on broader trade matters, TikTok wasn’t one of them — despite U.S. officials insisting that “progress” had been made. Bessent told reporters afterward: “We finalized the TikTok agreement in terms of getting Chinese approval, and I would expect that would go forward in the coming weeks and months, and we’ll finally see a resolution to that.” Chinese state media, however, was notably more reserved. One outlet simply noted that: “China will properly resolve issues related to TikTok with the U.S. side.” Meanwhile, China Daily added a more diplomatic tone: “Economic and trade consultations between China and the U.S. demonstrate that — guided by the principles of equality, respect, and mutual benefit — the two sides can find solutions to issues through dialogue and cooperation. These outcomes did not come easily, however, China looks forward to working with the U.S. to ensure their effective implementation, which will create greater certainty and stability in China-U.S. economic relations and the global economy.” That hardly sounds like an enthusiastic green light. If anything, it reads as if Beijing is waiting to see whether Washington delivers on other trade commitments before taking any further steps on TikTok. The sticking point here likely revolves around the U.S. tariffs still imposed on Chinese imports — restrictions that continue to choke segments of China’s trade with America. In theory, such tariffs encourage domestic production and benefit American workers, but they simultaneously undercut China’s export economy, which has been a central theme of ongoing negotiations. At this stage, it appears Beijing may be waiting for tangible tariff relief before granting any formal TikTok approval. It’s possible that Chinese officials have signaled conditional support behind closed doors — but until those trade barriers shift, progress seems stalled. What’s clear, however, is that Chinese leaders remain deeply frustrated by Washington’s trade tactics. Following the latest wave of U.S. tariffs announced earlier this month, Chinese officials blasted the move, accusing the U.S. of engaging in protectionism rather than promoting fair competition. They even claimed that the targeting of Chinese firms like TikTok is “nothing more than an excuse for the U.S. to impose protectionist tariffs on Chinese goods in the face of China’s highly competitive economy.” That assessment isn’t entirely baseless. The Trump administration’s trade posture has always leaned toward heavy-handed economic nationalism — penalizing companies that depend on foreign manufacturing in an effort to bring jobs and production back to U.S. soil. But if those tariffs remain, the cost and complexity of any potential TikTok sale could rise dramatically. In fact, some reports suggest that Chinese negotiators are pushing for a far broader framework as part of the deal — one that extends beyond trade and technology into geopolitical territory. That could include pressure on Trump to publicly recognize China’s sovereignty claims over Taiwan, a position that would mark a dramatic break from decades of U.S. foreign policy. It’s remarkable to think that a short-form video app — once known mainly for lip-syncing and dance trends — has now become entangled in the fate of international trade, national sovereignty, and global diplomacy. But here we are, in 2025. For now, the ball appears to be in Trump’s court. If he follows through on his reported commitment to reduce tariffs and ease certain trade restrictions, the TikTok deal might finally move forward. Until then, it remains another unresolved chapter in the increasingly complex relationship between Washington and Beijing — with a social media app improbably caught at the center of it all. 📢 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!