Rise and shine Spark Bites readers, we hope you came hungry because we have some tasty social media snacks to share with you!
Snapchat is working on a new platform for gamers, Telegram is becoming a force to be reckoned with, Myspace accidentally deleted 12 years of music, Instagram made shopping much easier, and Facebook altered filters to avoid discriminatory ads.
This edition of Spark Bites should satisfy ALL of your daily cravings (you can thank us in the hotter months). #SummerbodyReady–let’s dig in.
Snapchat
Snapchat has entered the race. And by race, we’re referring to the gaming world, not the presidential race. Snap has announced they may be unveiling a new gaming platform at their summit in April.
Snapchat began dabbling in quasi-gaming experiences when they released Snappable last April–a set of filters that immerses users in AR experiences.
But, it turns out that was child’s play compared to recent events. Mysteriously code-named “Project Cognac,” Snap’s newest venture involves collaboration with third-party developers to create games on the app itself.
The new gaming platform is likely Snap’s latest recipe for success–we smell more user engagement AND more revenue for the platform. Words travel fast in our streets as Instagram are in talks to create their own gaming platform. I guess the saying is true – imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Telegram
In the social media realm, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat seem to dominate… until now. After the Facebook blackout, messaging platform Telegram claimed to have an influx of signups during Facebook’s darkest time.
When the cat’s away, the mice will play, and we little mice need social media updates. We aren’t living in the stone age anymore.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov told followers through his Telegram channel that 3 million new users signed up during that time period. It isn’t by chance that he sent it out during Facebook downtime… we have eyes, Durov!
To rub more salt into Facebook wounds, Durov continues to barate Facebook by telling users that Telegram will provide TRANSPARENT privacy terms for everyone. The SHADE. Telegram is being messy boots and we are here for it.
MySpace
We are SHOOK, as is everyone else. Who would have thought that Myspace would be a topic of discussion? To some, Myspace was an introduction of social media networking, and to others, it’s probably a foreign language.
Even after its popularity faded, Myspace was a major music platform that launched artists like Arctic Monkeys and Sean Kingston. However, Myspace confirmed that all music posted on it site prior to 2015 (since 2003) has been erased. By our calculations, that is around 50 million songs over the course of twelve years (okay, we just googled it)!
Apparently, this is a result of a server migration project. Myspace didn’t say much about it, besides the post-deletion announcement to users that any photos, videos, and audio uploaded more than three years ago or more, may no longer be there. Yikes!
Spark Biters, this is a learning lesson for all of us; we must listen to all the tech support agents we’ve encountered and BACK UP OUR FILES!
It looks like we can reduce our excessive drooling over our favourite influencer’s recent posts. (But damn… that Dior bag was a LEWK.)
Instagram is giving the people what they want by making it possible to purchase things we would kill for without even leaving the app. We can all be trendsetters now and make our co-worker Susie envious of our newfound purchases.
Another bonus: Once we’ve entered the details on Instagram, it will give us updates on shipment and delivery through Instagram itself.
This new function is currently available for brands like Prada, Dior, Revolve, Uniqlo, and Burberry. We have a small suspicion that our credit card bill will be maxed out by the end of March. Oh well!
Facebook has settled their legal score with a civil rights group: Facebook will end targeting options for any potential discriminatory advertisement.
We are going to throw on our lawyer voice: according to the settlement, Facebook will pay $5 million and implement new protocols that will prevent housing, employment and credit-related advertisers from targeting or avoid targeting certain groups based on race, sex, religion, and age.
Phew, okay, enough lawyer talk.
Well Spark Bites readers, how’s that for a food baby of social media snacks? We hope to have curbed your cravings. Put in that extra work this week because we will be back with more soon. Ta-ta for now
