Social Media News – Week of 6/15
Social media can be very difficult to predict. Last week, there were only 4 changes among the major social media platforms. This week, there are 17. Want to find out what those changes are? Check them out below:
Facebook:
1. Can’t think of something to say? Facebook has got you covered. The platform has started to suggest hashtags and status topics when users post a status. As of right now, this feature hasn’t been rolled out to everyone, but look for it in your status box soon.
2. A new standalone Facebook app has been introduced. The app is called Moments, and will make it easier for friends and family to share photos amongst one another. To learn more about this app, read Facebook’s Newsroom post about it.
3. Facebook is consistently updating their newsfeed algorithm, and this week is no exception. The platform is now favoring posts based on the amount of time users spend looking at them. If you tend to linger on a page or person’s posts, Facebook will show you more of these posts; if you tend to scroll quickly past a page or person’s post, Facebook will show you less of these posts. We’re very interested to see how this will increase page impressions and engagement.
4. In case you’ve been keeping tabs, Facebook has just unveiled the Rift, their new virtual reality headset. This device will go on sale next year, and will come with a controller and headset for less than $1,500.
5. Last week we announced that Pinterest and Instagram were testing out buy buttons. This week, we’re announcing that Facebook is testing a buy button as well – with Shopify merchants. If these ads prove successful, Facebook will likely bring this form of advertising to all advertisers on the platform.
6. If you find yourself drawn to Facebook’s trending topics, you’ll love the latest update. Previously, users were shown a specific, unorganized set of trending news. Now users will be able to sort these trending topics by category. Right now, users are limited to five topics: All News, Politics, Science and Tech, Sports, and Entertainment.
7. Facebook Messenger has introduced games for users to play while messaging. These apps still require the user to download them from the App Store or Google Play but become imbedded in the Messenger app after downloading.
1. One of our biggest grievances with Twitter is that it has never been easy to follow conversations on the platform. Twitter has recognized this issue and is now making it much easier to read through and follow conversations. To learn more about how the new conversations will flow, read Twitter’s post on the matter.
2. Twitter’s algorithm is very good at ad targeting. Now, the algorithm includes ads based on apps that users have on their phone. Did you like Candy Crush? You may like Bejeweled Blitz! Twitter will be able to suggest ads to users based on their previously installed apps. We can’t decide if this is cool or creepy.
3. Speaking of Twitter and apps, Twitter is now testing app install ads on iOS. Now, when users visit an account such as the New York Times, they will be prompted to download the NYTimes app. This feature is limited for now, but this could be great for brands with apps.
4. Trolls and spammers have been a huge issue for Twitter since the platform was created. Twitter has had a difficult time in dealing with these users, but their latest update will make it much easier to identify these spammers and trolls. Users can now share their block lists, allowing other users a much easier time avoiding negative content.
5. If you use Twitter on an iOS device, you’ve likely been asked if you would like to participate in Twitter experiments. Twitter is testing new apps and features with an exclusive group of iOS users. What are they testing? We aren’t sure, as users who have agreed to this have had to sign a confidentiality agreement.
6. Users who have tried to have DM conversations on Twitter before know how difficult this can be. Previously, Twitter’s direct messenger feature limited messages to 140 characters, which is barely enough to maintain a conversation. Twitter has just announced, however, that it will be removing this limit in July. This is great news for anyone who wants to use the platform as a serious means of communication.
7. Twitter is a great source of breaking news and information. Soon, it will be a great source of local breaking news and information as well. Recently, Twitter has been testing location-specific search. We can’t wait to put this to use in RVA!
1. We love a good website redesign here at Torx, and Instagram’s latest is no exception. Profiles on the desktop version of the platform now appear much cleaner and more organized, with photos displaying much larger than before. Instagram really did a great job with this redesign!
Vine
1. It sounds a little bit ridiculous that it took so long, but Vine has finally updated its search results to include actual Vines. Previously, users could only search for hashtags, trending topics, and other users. Learn more about the change here.
YouTube
1. In case you weren’t aware, watching videos of people playing video games has become incredibly popular. So popular, in fact, that there are now video services dedicated to watching users play games. YouTube has recognized this and in turn will be rolling out YouTube Gaming, an app and site which will be exclusively dedicated to video games.
There you have it – the social media updates for the week of June 15th. We’re pretty impressed with how many changes are rolling out, especially for Facebook and Twitter. Even though this is an incredibly large amount of changes, there will always be more, so be sure to check back in each week to read our social media roundup!