Social Media Notes
Here’s this week’s round-up of social media (& sometimes tech) news. Come back weekly for what I hope to be a fun & informative blog post on social stories that caught my eye throughout the week!
- I’ve officially left my gig as social media specialist at NAIT and am now the new Digital Strategist at Edmonton communications/PR firm Calder Bateman! I’m excited for this new challenge, which will have me leading social media + digital strategy for a range of different clients/companies.
- After 5 years, the Edmonton chapter of Social Media Breakfast is coming to an end. I really enjoyed the free social media workshops/events they put on over the years!
- Texting/social media while walking has never been safer: a city in Germany has installed traffic lights on the sidewalk. It the test works there, it might get expanded to more cities.
- A new text messaging app called Talkshow is getting lots of attention. It’s being called the ‘Periscope of texting’ that lets users host message-based ‘talkshows’ about different topics. Anyone who tunes in can send messages and interact with the ‘talkshow’ in real time.
- This is a great read on how Snapchat creates content urgency for brands. I love the “mayfly content” example.
- I also like these features Mashable has listed as features they’d love to see on Snapchat. I’m sure some of these could be launched soon.
- NBC is partnering with Snapchat and Buzzfeed to show unique video perspective of the upcoming 2016 Olympic games in Rio. Pretty big win, given Olympic video broadcasting rights are typically quite strict.
- I was wondering when this would happen – looks like Snapchat’s speed filter (where it tells users how fast they’re going) is being cited in a lawsuit after a car accident left a man with brain injuries.
- Looks like Facebook is working on a stand-alone camera app that would be similar to Snapchat. With Snapchat overtaking Instagram as the top app of choice for teens, and their awesome features and revenue generating models, I really think Facebook’s concerned and their imitation features are showing that too.
- More cause for concern (for Facebook): Snapchat’s video view numbers have surpassed Facebook. Apparently users are watching 10 billion videos (Stories) each day. This time last year (2015) there were were about 4 billion views per day.
- Still, amount of time Facebook users spend on the platform is up: on average, people around the world spend 50 minutes a day using Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
- Hm. Where would you categorize Twitter in the App Store? They were under “social networking” where they sat in the #10 spot, but have now moved to “news” where they’re sitting at #1.
- In Alberta, the number of sexually transmitted infections has skyrocketed and hook-up apps like Tinder and Grindr were being blamed. But association is very different from causation – some researchers argue, saying more work needs to be done before a direct link can be made.
- This is odd (but likely a publicity stunt): Radiohead’s social media posts have all disappeared.
- I find results for research around whether social media makes people depressed is constantly changing. Here’s a new read on how constantly comparing ourselves to others on social media can erode our self-esteem.
- Interesting Q&A with a CEO who uses social media to show fans/followers behind-the-scenes and how that helps the day job. (Really, all about that brand building).
- How likely is it that your boss is snooping your social media posts? (Hint: very likely, though actually I’ve seen even higher numbers than the ones in this new report).
- Here’s the week’s Cat Saturday photos! My favourites are 4, 6, 7, 17, 18, and 26!
Thoughts on these stories? Tweet @ me or leave a comment below!
Linda
