Our Social Digest helps you keep up to date with the ever-changing world of social media through trends, features and insights - brought to you monthly by the social media specialists at Sunshine. 

In today’s email:

• 🌵 Justice for succulents: Facebook removes some strange ad targeting topics. 
• 💰 Major bag alert: Our roundup of TikTok sounds taking the platform by storm.
• 📘 Tell your story: Meta introduces video highlights for IG and FB Stories.

Meta Removes ‘Cactus’ 🌵 and Other Facebook Ad Interests

#Justice4Succulents

After years of criticism, Meta has finally implemented the sensitivity protocols they’ve been promising. Facebook advertiser targeting settings were scaled way back last month.

What changes have been made to Facebook ad targeting?
According to Meta, they have removed options that relate to topics people “may perceive as sensitive”. Here’s an overview of some of the biggest categories included:

• Health causes (e.g., “Lung cancer awareness”, “World Diabetes Day”, “Chemotherapy”)
• Sexual orientation (e.g., “same-sex marriage” and “LGBT culture”)
• Religious practices and groups (e.g., “Catholic Church” and “Jewish holidays”)
• Political beliefs, social issues, causes, organizations, and figures

Our team of experts rounded up all the info so that you don’t have to:

📝  Breakdown of the recent restrictions
💭  History of similar changes made throughout the years
👍  Pros and cons of Facebook ad targeting (for individuals and businesses)
💡  Advice for social media marketing teams going forward
 

💰 Major bag alert - This sound is being used on TikTok to poke fun at situations where there is a potential for money to be made or when something really good/fortunate happens. The sound originates from a 2017 DJ Khaled track of the same name and started gaining traction in early February.

🏉  Explore your local area - This ‘local knowledge’ feature is highlighted on TikTok around the time of big events, such as New Years, Six Nations, etc. Anyone can submit videos to be featured, making it a great opportunity to get content in front of lots of eyes!

• Linkedin has introduced newsletters to company pages. This feature was already accessible to creators in creator mode but is now available for Company Pages with more than 500 followers.

• Instagram is testing customisable feeds, allowing users to re-order their posts and pin posts to the top of their profiles (similar to TikTok). Also, the ability to delete single images from carousels has finally been rolled out to all users.
   
• Meta has added Story Highlight Clips. This new tool allows you to post 20 second highlights of your in-feed videos to your stories. It’s available on both Facebook and Instagram.