Lately In Social Media – September 2018
Richmond novelist Ellen Glasgow is quoted as saying, “All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward.” Seeing as she won a Pulitzer Prize, I’m inclined to believe she knows what she’s talking about, even though I doubt she anticipated that I’d apply her sentiment to our discussion of social media updates. Here’s why it feels appropriate this month:
- Did you feel the impact of the data breach today too?
- Incidents like these really make you wonder: Will we ever be able to trust Facebook to handle “inauthentic accounts” and genuine bad actors?
- Also, access to third-party data aka Partner Categories ends on October 1. We had a good run, aside from the fact that people don’t like being served ads based on information they hadn’t consented to share. Time to look forward and hope for better Contextual Targeting opportunities.
- Now that Stories has reached a whopping 300 million users, everyone in the world has to watch them with ads. Here’s how some marketers are approaching the opportunity.
- Also: How to create a poll in your Stories.
- Speaking of ads: Even if you’ve restricted access to your information in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, advertisers can still target you based on information from your shadow profile, aka a hidden layer of information about you that Facebook gathered by asking for your phone number. We kinda already knew it, but now the secret is out: Even without an account, Facebook can still build an advertising profile for you 😳
- Also speaking of ads: Good luck targeting teenagers and young people, because they’re really not feeling Facebook anymore.
- Then there’s the Europe problem.
- New brand safety measures are here, but some advertisers don’t think they’re enough. What are your thoughts?
- On the bright side, Pages can now become members of Groups, so brands can finally get in on the action.
- The five-star review system is gone, so now your Page asks users if they would recommend you and prompts them to give thoughtful feedback.
- Canvas is now Instant Experience, with some better data collecting abilities.
- Access to Ad Breaks has expanded to 21 new countries and is now available in five languages, which means even more publishers have the option to monetize their video content.
- P.S. If you have Facebook friends in Colombia, ask what they think of the dating feature so far.
- After enduring several successful years of growth under Facebook’s thumb, Instagram’s two co-founders abruptly resigned on Monday. This comes at a time when things aren’t so awesome for Facebook, but at least Instagram is still growing in users and popularity. It’s not clear what the co-founders’ departure means for the future of their platform, but it’s safe to say that things won’t be the same going forward.
- Right now, it’s looking more and more like Facebook will completely swallow (and ruin) Instagram.
- And what will become of IGTV, which hasn’t quite thrilled users?
- This isn’t the first incident to make us question whether Facebook will be able to acquire cool new apps down the road.
- More big questions: What will the impending standalone shopping app mean for regular Instagram users? Will it be more or less effective at driving sales than ads in Stories, or the Shopping tab on the Explore Page? Also, how will the separate app impact influencers who have amassed large audiences on the current platform?
- Influencers also seem to have mixed feelings on the recent “About this Account” feature that Instagram purports will increase transparency for followers.
- Hashtags – can’t fit ’em in your caption, can’t get seen without them. Hopefully a new feature will allow users to hide their hashtags to create cleaner posts without sacrificing discoverability.
- Have you come up with a cool use for Superzoom yet?
- Or applied for your badge?
- Thank goodness for the emoji shortcut 👍
- If you prefer the chronological timeline of your youth, now you can have it back. Or not, it’s your call.
- Want to help Twitter create policies to protect their users from dehumanizing treatment? Share your thoughts here.
- Threading replies to make reading a conversation easier = Good. Status indicators telling others when you’re online = Why?
- Livestreams from accounts you follow will appear at the top of your timeline, so you can’t miss ’em.
SNAPCHAT
- A new visual search tool allows users to identify objects around them and then buy them on Amazon – aka an Amazon-corrupted version of the same idea that Pinterest already had.
- Aaaand shoppable Snap ads, now known as Collection Ads, will officially roll out to all advertisers in October.
- The Snapchat pixel is also getting more specific and can more closely target users’ activities on websites, not just their web history.
- A new-ish feature will allow media companies to scrape users’ public content to create compilations, for example, to document reactions to live events or breaking news.
- So what’s Microsoft doing with its LinkedIn acquisition these days? Well, if you happen to schedule a meeting with someone, new features in Office 365 can pull from that person’s LinkedIn profile to add some detail to your calendar. How nice!
- Groups are getting better, I guess. Have you had a good experience with Groups? If so, please tell me what I’m missing.
- Apparently Slideshare is on its way out. Guess we should all pivot to video, right?? 🤣
- Dynamic ads that customize offerings for prospects sound more exciting.
- But really, at the end of the day: Is LinkedIn not good? Let us know your thoughts.
YOUTUBE
- Vertical ads are here for mobile-first users!
- Also, parents can hand-select content for their children because we live in a society where four-year-olds can watch anything on social media.
- P.S. Hang in there, creators. Take care of yourselves, and hopefully it gets better soon.
- More than 250 million monthly users! 🎉 That’s a lot of eyeballs for your ads, amirite?
- Get ready to boost your content like the big business, because now smaller companies can create “Shop the Look” pins, too!
- Influencers also gained some new tools: Pinterest just expanded its content marketing API to include third-party influencer marketing platforms.
P.S. Why do we still do this to ourselves? Just cross your fingers no one asks about ROI.
Got questions about social media marketing? Not sure how social tools could benefit your business? Let’s talk!