š° NoGood News | Vol. 53
How a billionaire's dream became social media's worst nightmare
Hi NoGoodies,
Before we jump into another round of the NoGood News, here's a quick TL;DR of what's below:
Social media's worst nightmare:
Twitter's regrettable rebrand to šThe expansion flywheel of becoming multilingual:
Duolingo's ingenious growth marketing strategiesThe unprecedented future of search:
Generative AI and innovative social search
Ready? Let's get into it.Ā
š¦ Elon Musk and the š takeover
The unmistakable demise of TwitterĀ
Twitter, the hallmark text-based social platform, was pronounced dead on Sunday, July 23rd, 2023. The bluebird was just 17 years old.Ā
What remains is a shell of the platformās former image. Yet, for one man, the rubble in the ashes represents a dream, decadesĀ in the making, finally being realized.Ā
For Elon Muskā¦ š is all he has ever wanted.
But why is š such a problematic platform?
A rushed rebrand:Ā With the incredibly fast turnaround, references to āTwitterā and ātweetsā were still visible across the site. The only things that had actually changed from this marketing strategy were the bird image and the purging of all bird references. Users immediately started to point out the app's inconsistencies, criticizing the rollout of the new branding. But this would only be the beginning.
Potential legal issues after theĀ šrebrand: When you hastily rebrand the biggest text-based social media website in the world, you may miss a few things, such as your direct competitor owning the social media trademark, "X." Mark Zuckerbergās branding company carries the letter's trademark registrations, and given the tumultuous relationship that already exists between the social media companies, this could get ugly.
Post rate limit: To former Twitter users' largest chagrin, new ārate limitsā were implemented across the platform. Unverified accounts are now able to read just 600 posts daily, while members who pay for verified accounts can now see up to 6,000. An obvious ploy to convert more users to Twitter Blue, this move was met with site-wide condemnation, to which Musk responded by instructing those upset to ātouch grassā.Ā
From the social media platform's internal structure to its millions of dissatisfied criticsā Twitter's demise is social media's undeniable scandal of the decade.Ā
š¬ Duolingo's strategic product-led growth strategy
The sustainability and accessability of language learning
Duolingo is one of the most popular and widely used language-learning platforms, with over 500 million total users worldwide, offering language courses ranging from French to Catalan. What you may not know is that while many companies grow through paid marketing, Duolingo actually acquired ~80% of their users organically. How did they accomplish this feat?
Gamification ā One of the biggest and most important PLG levers for Duolingo is gamification. As part of their growth, the team at Duolingo very quickly and smartly saw parallels between the entertainment that gaming apps provided and the consistent learning required for languages. Duolingo rewards users with Experience Points and gems, the gameās in-app currency for completing lessons, exercises, and daily challenges, keeping users hooked.Ā
Community-Driven Learning ā Duolingo may offer courses in over 40 languages, but the app itself has to speak in a universal tongue with an experience that transcends any cultural or linguistic barriers. Through this universality, Duolingo started to opt users into leagues where they were able to compete with other learners. The app also employs leaderboards, fostering a greater sense of a learning community and fueling a friendly rivalry among learners.
A learning-driven team obsessed with A/B testing ā The ideal PLG loop is led by product, powered by data, and assisted by channels. Duolingo prioritized this phenomenon by AB testing its soft-walled signup page. With this experiment alone, the Duolingo team managed to increase DAUs by 20%.
These strategies, which Duolingo seamlessly implements, are the major contributors to the app's product-led growth tactics.
š¤ The pioneering of generative AI and social search
The purpose of search products, like Google or Bing, has always been to answer questions and direct users to the right destinations by acting as gateways to the web.
But today's search landscape has shifted significantly.
More users ā with Gen Z in the lead ā turn to social platforms like TikTok and Instagram to search for the answers they are looking for.
Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, weāve also seen more and more people using generative AI products as conversational, zero-click search engines.
How will this impact the future of search with the rise of generative, social AI?
Join us atĀ SXSW Sydney on October 19, 11am-12pm, to hear our take.
š Q&A with an expert
A bi-weekly interview series with the best in the game
Q:Ā As a creator, what are the main differences between TikTok and IG Reels?
A: Reels allows creators to attain much more sustained growth. You can expect followers to see your content consistently, whereas on TikTok, videos are geared toward virality. They don't always seem to reach your followers. TikTok is heavily influenced by trends and timeliness, while Instagram is a bit more evergreen. Both platforms are great for reaching new audiences, but Reels is much easier to maintain as a creator.Ā
Q:Ā What makes someone like āTube Girlā go viral, and what are your thoughts on the phenomenon sheās created?
A: The authenticity of "Tube Girl," Sabrina Bahsoon, is what catapulted her into digital fame, practically overnight. In many ways, she created a new, trending style of filming videos. Dynamic editing, music, movementā these elements really matterĀ on TikTok. Her success was inevitable.Ā
āļø We wish we wrote this
A curated list of the past 2 weeks' must-read articles:
Why teenagers' favorite social media platform is now LinkedIn
How social networks catastrophically fail, from Musk's X to Yaccarino's Twitter
The crucial key to forming a cash-flowing Internet company
š Keeping up on the socials
Because we know you like to stay in the know:
If there was a Gen Z helplineĀ
Tube Girl Sabrina Bahsoon's claim to fame