February is the shortest and often most revitalising month of the year, did it live up to its reputation in 2021? As we watch the seasons change before our eyes and the return of the sun, February was the month of optimism.
It came with the news of a potential return to everyday life on the back of the Coronavirus pandemic. Overall, February was incredibly positive; it filled us with the notion that Create8 HQ might be back up and running soon, with our team of new staff, exciting stuff!
February brought us a fresh outlook on life in 2021; it showed us some glorious sunshine and splatters of pastel spring colours across social media. As a month, it also provided some brilliant innovations in the world of digital. So here it is, last month in digital, February edition.
Fight for your right to stream 🥊
TikTok, as we all know, was the huge mover of 2020. It will be hard to look back on such drab times without cracking a smile at the thought of TikTok. The year was filled with ‘renegade, renegade, renegade’ and ‘savage love’. In fact, it sounds like it was filled with Jason Derulo; thanks for that TikTok, we missed him. So in February, TikTok announced a new partnership with the UFC and we couldn’t be more excited.
The video-streaming platform will now have access to exclusive UFC content, creating unique and bespoke content experiences for its users. The UFC has grown to one of the most popular sports globally and has a whole host of innovative content that will be available only on TikTok.
YouTube joins short form 🤳
The controversy surrounding TikTok won’t seem to go away, partly for all the right reasons and sometimes for ridiculous ones.
Short-form video lovers will still be able to get their fix as YouTube announced that their TikTok competitor ‘Shorts’ will be rolled out in March, starting with the US. As we know, YouTube is one of the most calculated social media platforms, they don’t take risks, and having started trialling the platform back in September, they must have gotten it right.
YouTube has initially sold ‘Shorts’ as an option for those who see the creative bar as too high on full-length video content. There will be a place for short-form within the top video platform.
YouTube hasn’t hidden away from the fact that this launch is based mainly on the success of TikTok. Some members of the YouTube hierarchy have even labelled it a clone. Either way, we love short-form video, and as its marketing uses continue to grow, this move will offer businesses and individuals a new short-form home.
Facebook takes on all challengers 😎
Last month we confirmed something we kind of knew was coming. In recent years, Facebook has taken on any platform that appeared to show promise. Instagram Reels to challenge TikTok or its experimentation with ‘Newsletters’ following Twitter’s acquisition or Revue.
The latest move from Facebook is to test a new platform altogether, named ‘Super’. Super intends to be a competitor to celebrity shout-out platform, Cameo.
For those of you who aren’t aware of Cameo, it’s a little bizarre. It offers you the opportunity to pay a fee for a message from a celebrity, think getting a celeb to personally wish your best mate ‘happy birthday’. James Buckley, aka Jay from the Inbetweeners, makes all the noise on the platform with some of his classic one-liners from the British teen crisis classic.
It looks like Facebook has approached the sector with a virtual meet and greet style project. Either way, it’s another string to the Facebook bow from the company that always delivers.
Thanks for reading last month in digital, the February edition. Ready to grab any of the newest in digital by the horns? We are always available to chat about all things design and digital! Tune in next month to stay up to date with all the latest online happenings.
We keep our dedicated readers in the know every month as well as our usual, branding, web design and digital marketing blogs.
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