Social Media Notes (#89) – Links for the Week of November 2 – 9

Social Media Notes

Here’s this week’s round-up of social media (& tech) news. Come by each week for what I hope to be a fun & informative blog post on social stories that caught my eye throughout the week! 

  • Perhaps the biggest social network change of the past week was Twitter’s decision to kill the ‘favourite’/star and turn it into a ‘like’/heart, in an effort to appease casual/new/non-users. It’s pretty disappointing, as Verge puts it, “for all its faults, the favourite was unique to Twitter, and part of what makes the service distinctive. Most people may never have understood the multivalent power of the fav, but those who did found it surprisingly elegant and powerful. In this, the fav was a microcosm of Twitter itself: a bit of work up front, in exchange for a social experience as rich and surprising as anything in the world.” Do you miss the favourite button?
  • I thought this story of an Instagram model who announced she’s quitting social media – then went ahead and edited captions of her old photos to show more truth in the posts, was pretty interesting and really highlights how curated/staged/perfectly crafted so many social media posts can be today. An example of her edited captions: One photo of her wearing a bikini once said ‘things are getting pretty wild at my house. Maths B and English in the sun” now says “see how relatable my captions were – stomach sucked in, strategic pose, pushed up boobs. I just want younger girls to know this isn’t candid life, or cool or inspirational. It’s contrived perfection made to get attention.”
  • Have you noticed some of your friends are ‘interested’ in going to certain events now, instead of ‘maybe’ going? Facebook has changed the Maybe button on Event Pages with Interested. This will indicate to the Event organizer that you’re interested, but can’t decide, but you will receive notifications and updates from the event unlike with maybe, which was way more ambigious, I guess. It certainly puts a more positive spin on Event pages!

Thoughts on these stories? Tweet @ me or leave a comment below!

Linda

Follow lindork on Instagram

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

If you're Edmonton area, subscribe to my newsletter for hyperlocal recommendations on what to do, eat, and things to know this week!
If you're Edmonton area, subscribe to my FREE newsletter for hyperlocal recommendations on what to do, eat, things to know this week, and more!