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!
There’s a ton of Facebook updates this week:
- Facebook now gets around 8 billion video views daily and is now testing a new ‘click for more’ feature that will bring up a list of related videos to keep you watching longer.
- There’s now an update to Facebook’s controversial fake name policy – you can now include an explanation to go along with name submissions, so that someone from the Facebook team will actually review / give you personalized support. It comes after criticism last year from the LGBTQ community.
- Who says people are moving away from Facebook? It ends 2015 as the most-used smartphone app of the year.
- Remember last year when Facebook’s Year in Reviews led to some pretty depressing recaps? This year, Facebook lets you edit (pick up to 10 photos) to share in your Year in Review so you can just focus on the happy.
- I mentioned this Facebook / Yelp competitor last week but it looks like since then – Yelp shares have fallen. “With 1.4 billion users and 40 million small business pages, the social network will be a force to contend with.”
- After becoming the most powerful force in party invitations, Facebook is now launching a new Event browsing experience that will suggest tailored events in your area, ‘matching people to parties.’
- Interesting: Facebook and Uber have teamed up to allow Facebook Messenger users to call for an Uber car without exiting the Messenger app.
And for non-Facebook social media news:
- This is crazy – ‘Systemic Change Needed After Faulty New York Times’ Article.’ Basically the NYT admitting they need to use less anonymous sources, and also be better at fact-checking. Their reporters and editors all let slide a source statement saying San Bernandino shooters had posted publicly on social media about their jihadist support – when in fact they did not. But no one had thought to try and google or ask the source for evidence showing those public social media posts.
- Do you use LinkedIn in your job search? The company’s new job listings page now shows more information about a company (including who works there, and how you compare to previous applicants) when you look at job postings on the platform.
- Instagram has changed the modeling industry – with reports suggesting models can make between $125,000 up to $300,000 per photo they post.
- What did people google in 2015? Google searches included a ton on Paris shootings (Charlie Hebdo and the recent attacks in November), but also how to help refugees, the Black Lives Matter movement, how can the world find peace, and more. Their summary video (here) is really moving.
- Spoiler alert: Since Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, the Internet has been on edge trying to ensure no one gets spoilers. Reddit is going as far as banning users who post spoilers.
- I love this: 28 memes that pretty much sum up life in 2015.
- Hilarious (and smart?) YouTube is using The Simpson’s Mr. Plow in an ad showing small businesses how easy it is to advertise on the video platform.
- A former YouTube gaming executive has been hired as Twitter’s new Head of Gaming in an effort to attract more gamers to the platform. Rodrigo Velleso will “work with content creators [to] give them the tools, or in some cases build them the tools, to allow them to produce the best content [for Twitter].”
- Social media scheduling company Buffer has just purchased social media customer support tool Respondly – plus an inside look at the anatomy of an acquisition.
- It’s a social media crackdown on hate speech in Germany – Facebook, Twitter, and Google have all agreed to remove hate speech posted to its platforms within 24 hours, in a country where companies have come under increased pressure to curb racism online.
- Social media can act as great platforms for all sorts of people and groups to spread their messages – including the Mormon Church who are spreading their message through YouTube.
- Snapchat is now letting publishers link directly to their branded Discover content on social networks like Facebook and Twitter and on the web. The prompts will take users directly to the Discover feed on their mobile phone, or encourage people to download Snapchat to see the feed.
- Check out these 76 viral images from 2015 that were totally fake. Did you believe any of them initially?
- Did you see this week’s Cat Saturday photos?!
Thoughts on these stories? Tweet @ me or leave a comment below!
Linda
