The definitive Digiday guide to what’s in and out for platforms
There’s rarely a dull moment in platform land but even by those standards, this year has been unusually turbulent.
A new administration in Washington, rising competition, regulatory pressure and economic uncertainty have all collided to reshape the platform landscape. The result is a new, more fragile equilibrium for the companies that once seemed untouchable.
Here’s what’s been going on in the land of platforms over the last year.
In:
Meta’s focus on Superintelligence
Out:
Meta’s focus on the metaverse
In:
YouTube as TV’s heir apparent
Out:
YouTube as Gen Z’s distraction machine
In:
Snap’s mixed reality makeover
Out:
Snap’s AR tunnel vision
In:
X as a video-first platform
Out:
X as a text-based platform
In:
TikTok staying in the U.S. (somehow)
Out:
TikTok being banned in the U.S.
In:
Platforms’ employing AI to moderate content
Out:
Platforms’ employing humans to moderate content
In:
Platforms leaning into free ad-supported streaming TV
Out:
Platforms leaning into premium subscription models
In:
“Free speech” as a tech CEO rallying cry
Out:
“Free Speech” with brand safety fine print
In:
Big tech platforms’ focus on right-leaning Republicans
Out:
Big tech platforms’ focus on left-leaning Democrats
In:
Substack is no longer anti-advertising
Out:
Substack is anti-advertising
In:
Platforms still trying to make social commerce work
Out:
Platforms trying to make social commerce work
In:
Platforms as sports broadcasters
Out:
Platforms as second-screen sidekicks
In:
BeReal sells ads
Out:
Be Real’ “no ads” purity
In:
Brand suitability powered by AI and humans
Out:
Brand safety powered by blocklists
In:
Monetizing distribution, not just attention
Out:
Monetizing attention
In:
Creator partnerships with profit-sharing math
Out:
Creator programs built on exposure
In:
60-second dramas
Out:
60-second ads
In:
Social commerce
Out:
Affiliate marketing
In:
AI agents
Out:
Basic chatbots
In:
AI platforms pursue browsers
Out:
AI platforms pursue ads
More in Marketing
WTF are tokens?
When someone sends a prompt or receives a response, the system breaks language into small segments. These fragments are tokens.
AI is changing how retailers select tech partners
The quick rise of artificial intelligence-powered tools has reshaped retailers’ process of selecting technology partners for anything from marketing to supply chain to merchandising.
YouTube’s upmarket TV push still runs on mid-funnel DNA
YouTube is balancing wanting to be premium TV, the short-form powerhouse and a creator economy engine all at once.