Brand Management: New TikTok and BigoLive Deal, Facebook Delivers on Privacy Settlement Payments
Social Networking Service: Facebook has started to release payments to U.S-based users who filed claims in the site’s $725 million privacy settlement starting on Aug. 25, 2025. The settlement followed charges and lawsuits against Facebook for improper handling of private information, specifically after the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. While Facebook’s parent company, Meta, denied any affiliations, they settled under the agreement in which users who were active on the site over the last 16 years can file a claim as long as it’s submitted before August 25. According to a spokesman for CBS MoneyWatch, Facebook has been notifying users on the settlement through the site’s notification system up until the deadline. This settlement, as quoted, has been made “in the best interest of [Facebook’s] community and shareholders.” Many users have reported payments coming in since Sept. 15.
Fanbase’s newest update makes it easier for creators and audiences to interact and navigate the site. As stated in a blog on the site, this update has been primarily focused on “retention, growth and creator monetization,” sourced by direct feedback from “creators, Fanbase users and [the site’s] partners.” There is an emphasis on improving site navigation; changes that are aimed to facilitate audience growth by encouraging new and old users to stay longer on the site. More specifically, creators and “casual” Fanbase users can now enjoy simpler menus, an improved search and recommendation engine and engaging UI. This Fanbase update is described as making it easier for content creators to monetize and be discovered: faster posting, better discovery and what’s been labeled as “ownership” are all part of this pitch.
LinkedIn’s new September feature list introduces “Saves” and “Sends.”. Users can now better track the engagement of their posts, namely by how many times they have been bookmarked or sent to another user on the site via private messaging. LinkedIn is interested in capitalizing on these metrics in the same way that other social media platforms, like Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter), have done in order to maximize user experience on the site. The current “Engagements” tab on LinkedIn helps users to evaluate their post performance and plan ahead for their next successful post.
onlyfans
Online Video Platform: Bigo Live is now partnering with interactive entertainment top-up Cocodp, marking the platform’s first U.S partnership and its first third party provider, as announced by the Director of Operations at Cocodp. According to the company’s Q2 company finances, North and South America comprise Cocodp’s “biggest market outside of the Asia-Pacific region”: 35% of global revenues. Cocodp’s versatility in the top-up market comes from their parent company Telemore’s API integrations and access to over 150 different kinds of payment methods. From this new partnership, Bigo Live is projected to earn more than $1.4 million on a monthly basis and a net revenue growth of 15%-30%. This means that the site will make it easier for users to interact and collaborate with others, and it will make payment processing faster and more convenient.
The start of classes nationwide this September has revealed something among college students as they find different ways to finance themselves: more students have been turning to OnlyFans for income. Rock Jacobs, director of the documentary “Lonely Fans,” listed tuition costs as one of the reasons for this phenomenon. The rise in traffic since the pandemic reflects this as well, with the number of users on the site reaching 4.1 million in 2023 from being at around 350,000 in 2019. The director notes a change in campus culture following the popularity of OnlyFans among college students, with the quick monetization of adult content becoming “more normalized.”
meta
Industry: The US General Services Administration and Meta have launched an initiative to make Meta’s “Llama” AI models more accessible to “all federal departments and agencies,” according to Meta themselves, as part of the “OneGov” strategy. The AI models are open-source and publicly available, and can be modified, providing efficiency and lower costs for taxpayers. At the same time, this will allow agencies to maintain “full control over sensitive data” during this testing period, notably accelerating government-wide AI adoption.
“Disciplinary and punitive measures” are going to be taken against popular apps Weibo and Kuaishou in the wake of new internet regulations in China. These regulations also affected image-sharing site XiaoHongShu (also known as Rednote in English) the week prior, with warnings for sites to increase moderation to avoid potentially “subversive, pornographic or vulgar” content. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has particularly criticized Weibo and Kuaishou for “trivial content,” namely the highlighting and “over-hyping” of celebrity and internet news.
TikTok may have new ownership in the U.S, as per a joint venture which multinational technology corporations Oracle and Dell, as well as private equity firm Silverlake are a part of. According to NPR, a senior White House official says that “this compromise has met both U.S. and Chinese law,” though the U.S. government “would not have a stake” in the deal. TikTok’s main feature, the “content recommendation algorithm” will be replicated and re-trained on U.S. data, with Oracle then overseeing privacy and security on the site. This will uphold U.S. national security while reinforcing relations between countries, amidst administrative push for U.S. products to remain primarily local.
