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!
- The 3rd Annual Edmonton International Cat Festival is coming up fast! It takes place Saturday, May 28, and is the only event of its kind in Canada, donating 100% of proceeds to local cat rescues (this year donations will support the Edmonton Humane Society, Little Cats Lost, and Zoe’s Animal Rescue!) Pre-purr-chase your tickets here! (At the door, it’s $20 per person – kids 12 and under are free).
- All sorts of social networks are trying to keep you in their app longer. YouTube is introducing a new messaging feature that lets you easily share videos with your contacts.
- Google’s also released a new iOS keyboard that features embedded Google search – search and share without leaving your chat. You can also seamlessly search/add GIFs and find emojis by name. Fantastic!
- Twitter will soon stop including photos and links in its 140-character limit. What other features are you waiting for?
- “On social media, teen jokes morph into brand messages” and the need for marketers to stay on top of online trends to capitalize on memes.
- Instagram changed its logo last week, and updated the look and feel of its app. Logo: bright, rainbow colours. App: black and white. It was interesting to learn about the process that went into the redesign. Predictably, the Internet reacted pretty negatively to the change but as people always do, shrugged it off and continues using the app, lol.
- Twitter says 47% of people have bought an item based on an influencer’s recommendation – that users trust influencers nearly as much as they trust their friends.
- On that note, here’s an interesting confession from a social media exec on influencer marketing. ‘We threw too much money at them.’ I feel like the majority of influencers aren’t getting paid in the tens of -to hundreds of thousands though.
- A new study finds that Facebook’s Reactions (sad, love, angry, haha, wow) account for just 3% of all interactions on the social network.
- Neat. Facebook will start to roll out 360-degree photos later this month.
- I think there’s countless examples of the dangers of the online mob (in general), now this false plagiarism accusation shows dangers of online mob journalism. Things can escalate so quickly.
- Google’s project Tango looks to go beyond Maps, recreating building interiors in 3D.
- Effective last week, the U.S. federal government can now review social media profiles – things you’ve publicly posted – for security clearances.
- Model / Instagram star Gigi Hadid says social media has “taken the dumb model stereotype away,” allowing models to take control of their narrative and show they’re more than just a face.
- The New York Times takes a look at the editorial/curation teams behind today’s major social networks (this on the heels of accusations over Facebook’s alleged news bias).
- Here’s the week’s Cat Saturday photos! My favourites are 2, 13, 15, 17, 21 and 22!
Thoughts on these stories? Tweet @ me or leave a comment below!
Linda
