Digital Dose: Upcoming Changes to TikTok & LinkedIn

Welcome to your dose of trending news from the digital universe, courtesy of the Spectrum Science Innovation Team. 

In this edition of Digital Dose, we’re diving into recent updates regarding the potential TikTok ban on January 19th and LinkedIn’s new boosting capabilities for personal updates. 

TikTok asks Supreme Court to block law that could ban popular app 

TikTok has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a law that could ban the app unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, sells it to an American company, arguing that the law violates its free speech rights under the First Amendment. The law, passed by Congress over national security concerns, is set to go into effect on January 19 unless the Court intervenes. As of Wednesday, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear TikTok’s challenge. Read More. 

Why it matters: A Supreme Court ruling for TikTok would protect 170 million American users from losing access to content, while a ruling in favor of the law could lead to tighter control over foreign social media platforms and reshape data policies. In response to this potential ban, TikTok influencers are preparing by promoting their profiles across other channels. 

Communicators on TikTok should prepare to be flexible with their approach as a potential ban approaches. It may be wise to seek approval to publish across channels (such as Instagram or Facebook), and ensure content is built to specs that works beyond just TikTok. 

LinkedIn Tests Paid Boosting for Personal Updates 

LinkedIn is expanding its existing boost capabilities in a test that allows individual users to pay to promote personal updates. Similar to the current offering for company pages, boosting takes just a few clicks and comes with limited objective and targeting options. Read More. 

Why it matters: We know LinkedIn users are more likely to engage with posts from people than posts from businesses. When this feature rolls out more broadly (expected in 2025), employees and leaders will have the opportunity to promote their own posts directly, without their ad being tied to a corporate brand as currently done with LinkedIn’s Thought Leader Ads. It may also open up new options (pending compliance and other logistics) for external partners like influencers and KOLs to promote their posts to reach larger, more qualified audiences through the LinkedIn feed. 

Interested in more? Don’t miss these additional digital headlines: 

• As health and wellness brands brace for ad restrictions on Meta, marketers and advertisers seek more transparency [Digiday] 

• Instagram Expected to Generate 50% of Meta’s US Ad Sales in 2025 [Bloomberg] 

• Snapchat Launches Streamlined Creator Monetization Process [Social Media Today] 

• LinkedIn Accelerates its Pitch to B2B Marketers with AI-Powered Ad Tools [Digiday] 

Have questions or comments on the content of this blog? Email Innovation@SpectrumScience.com