Welcome back to another week of social media updates! This week is jam packed, so brace yourself. Twitter faced some backlash this week after users thought they were axing the like button, Facebook just can’t catch a break when it comes to politics, and Snapchat tries to save face by adding their lenses to your desktop computer. Read on for even more social media updates.
- Seems no one likes this idea very much. This week sparked a heated debate over the state of the like button on Twitter. Don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere. Twitter released a statement saying that they were looking into many features on the site, not just the like button, in order to “encourage healthy conversation.” For all those who fear change, Twitter also said there is no immediate plan to implement any of these ideas.
- Remember last month when Twitter said they were going reverse chronological order on their timeline? It’s finally here! They have released an option where you can toggle between the two options for your timeline. Twitter is curious to see how many users will actually switch to the reverse timeline, so this new update is somewhat of a test…a test I don’t mind taking!
- Twitter wants to help you with your strategic planning. They just released an update to their monthly major events calendar to make sure marketers don’t miss any special events. This is really helpful when planning tweets in advance and you want to make sure you don’t accidentally miss Black Friday this year. Thanks, Twitter!
- Who doesn’t love a good carousel? Pinterest has just launched promoted carousel ad formats, which allows advertisers to include up to five images in a single ad for the first time. What’s neat about this is that each card within the carousel can feature a different image, title, description and landing page, providing a whole new range of options for Pinterest advertisers.
- Ever seen something on IGTV and wish you could share it on your story? Well if so, it’s your lucky day! Instagram has done just that and created a new option for you to put IGTV on your story. They’re also testing out a new option for promoted stories. While this seems enticing to brands, it could just clutter up the story area and turn users away. What do you think? Are stories the future of social media?
Snapchat
- Snapchat filters aren’t just for your phone anymore. The puppy dog filter is coming to a desktop near you! Snapchat will integrate with apps including Twitch, YouTube, Skype, and Zoom, so you’ll be able to use filters while chatting and streaming.
- Things always get messy when it gets political. Facebook recently launched political ad transparency measures, which enable users to see who, exactly, has paid for any political ad on the platform. Unfortunately, this has backfired tremendously. Many users have been able to manipulate the feature to falsely represent the aforementioned data. For example, Vice got approved to run political ads from clearly fake political groups, like “Cookies for Political Transparency” and “Ninja Turtles PAC.” Looks like Facebook has some kinks to work out.
- Zuckerberg, stop trying to make stories happen, it’s not going to happen. The social media juggernaut recently launched a new layout test, this time with Stories taking up pretty much all the top of screen real estate – front and center when you open the app. Stories haven’t quite taken off like Facebook would like and that could be due to the older age of the primary users on the site. Nevertheless, Facebook believes stories are still on track to become the key social sharing medium.
Thanks for reading this weeks Spark Bites! Make sure to check back next week for even more social media updates. Until next time.
