News

Snapchat Launches Its Spotlight Feature In The MENA Region

Snapchatters who decide not to reveal their profile information to the public can still earn money based on how many views their content gets.

Published

3 years ago

May 27, 2021

Joanna Melki

snapchat's spotlight feature launches in the mena region

Snapchat has just launched its new Spotlight feature in the Middle East and North Africa, enabling the local audience of approximately 75 million users to discover trending Snaps from the entire Snapchat community in one convenient place.

The Spotlight feature is Snapchat’s answer to TikTok’s success. While originally created to imitate the spontaneous, intimate feeling of real-world conversations, Snapchat has been continually innovating its platform and moving away from the original concept.

Snapchat

“Spotlight is an exciting new addition, a result of careful thought and insight into what our community wants, likes, and values. It is also built with our privacy-by-design philosophy, with the wellbeing of our community front and center,” said Hussein Freijeh, the general manager of Snap Inc. in the Middle East.

When sharing a video from their private accounts to the more public feed, Snapchat users in all regions where Spotlight is available can choose to send the video to the Spotlight feed and do so anonymously if they want to.

What’s great is that those who decide not to reveal their profile information to the public can still earn money based on how many views their content gets.

“Our hope is that Spotlight continues to break down barriers to content creation and by democratizing both distribution and the ability to earn, encourages Snapchatters to be creative and express themselves,” Freijeh added.

Also Read: Twitter Verification Badge Is Now Available To The Public

To achieve its goal, Snapchat is both automatically and manually moderating all Snaps that get submitted to Spotlight and tagging them based on their content. Each tag is then subdivided into multiple levels based on their views. A Snap featuring a dancing dog that has been viewed by, let’s say, 1,000 people then competes with other funny dog videos with a similar view count.

This simple yet effective mechanic prevents influencers and other people with a massive online following from stealing the spotlight (pun intended).

Currently, Spotlight is available in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Palestinian Territory, Libya, and Iraq.

News

Adobe Teases New AI Editing Tools And Updates In Premiere Pro

The video editing app will be enhanced with a generative extend tool, text-to-video, improved timeline waveforms, and more.

Published

5 hours ago

April 16, 2024

Nour Nasir

Adobe

After launching the generative AI model Firefly last year, Adobe is now showcasing how the technology will be used in upcoming versions of the editing app Premiere Pro. In an early sneak peek, the company demonstrated several new features, including Object Addition and Removal, Generative Extend, and Text to Video.

The first new feature, Generative Extend, targets a common video editing problem by using AI to “Seamlessly add frames to make clips longer, so it’s easier to perfectly time edits and add smooth transitions”.

Meanwhile, Premiere Pro’s Object Addition & Removal tool will leverage Firefly’s generative AI to “Simply select and track objects, then replace them. Remove unwanted items, change an actor’s wardrobe or quickly add set dressings such as a painting or photorealistic flowers on a desk,” Adobe states.

Adobe also showcased another new feature that can automatically generate new film clips using a text prompt. To use the content creation tool, editors can “Simply type text into a prompt or upload reference images. These clips can be used to ideate and create storyboards, or to create B-roll for augmenting live action footage,” Adobe explained. The company seems to be commercializing this particular feature extremely quickly, considering generative AI video only appeared a few months ago.

Also Read: UGREEN Unveils Nexode RG 65W Charger For Middle East

The new additions to Premiere Pro will be added later this year, but Adobe is also introducing smaller improvements to the editing app in May. The changes include interactive fade handles to enable easier transitions, an Essential Sound badge that uses AI to “automatically tag audio clips as dialogue, music, sound effects or ambience, and add a new icon so editors get one-click, instant access to the right controls for the job”, along with effect badges and a new look for waveforms in the timeline.