All posts by Andrew Hutchinson

Hey, remember how, back in February, Facebook launched a new Creator Studio app which was designed to make it easier to manage your Facebook and Instagram posts on the go, and get more insights on content performance? It’s probably hard to forget, given that if you schedule anything through your Facebook Page on desktop, you now have to do so through Creator Studio. If you don’t recall, a quick reminder – while Creator Studio looks good and does, indeed, provide more access to a broader range of stats, a key flaw in its design is that you can’t actually create posts within the app. You need to create your posts […]

They weren’t gone for long, but their absence prompted a signficant enough backlash that Facebook has today announced that polls for Messenger are once again back in play within your chat streams. Facebook first launched polls in Messenger back in 2016, but they were removed recently as part of Facebook’s ‘Lightspeed’ revamp of the Messenger app, which sought to streamline its operations and declutter presentation. But now, Messenger polls have returned – and what’s more, they come with a fresh new look, and improved response. As explained by Facebook: “Power users of the previous version of Polls will note that we’ve refreshed the look and feel with new colors and […]

Reddit is hosting a new, online advertising school program, which will enable participants to learn from industry professionals, and submit work for assessment by the broader Reddit advertising community. Reddit’s Ad School will cover a range of key elements, including copywriting, PR and social media marketing. The Ad School classes will run once a week, with a class of up to fifty students meeting with an expert teacher via video conference. The teachers – who will be ‘director level or above’ in each area – will then take students through the essentials, and issue an assignment to the class. “The lecture will be made publicly available immediately following the class on […]

With Twitter recently announcing that it would allow its employees to work from home forever, if they choose, Facebook is now also leaning into the remote work shift, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying that “most employees” will be allowed to work from home moving forward, beyond the current COVID-19 lockdown period. As reported by The Verge, Zuckerberg says that he wants Facebook to “be the most forward-leaning company on remote work” “We need to do this in a way that’s thoughtful and responsible, so we’re going to do this in a measured way. But I think that it’s possible that over the next five to 10 years – maybe closer to 10 […]

Facebook is adding two new warning tools designed to protect users from scams and unwanted attention, while it’s also looking to increase its focus on protecting minors within the app. First off, Facebook’s adding a new safety notice within Messenger streams that will seek to help users identify when they may be interacting with potential scammers. As explained by Facebook: “We’re introducing safety notices in Messenger that will pop up in a chat and provide tips to help people spot suspicious activity and take action to block or ignore someone when something doesn’t seem right.” As you can see in this interaction (above), when a user has accepted a chat […]

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has outlined a range of new remote collaboration tools for the company’s professional Workplace platform, including video chat Rooms and new ways to connect via Portal. Here’s a look a how Facebook’s working to cater to the rising demand for WFH tools. First off, Facebook’s expanding its new Messenger Rooms to Workplace, with Workplace Rooms. As explained by Facebook: “Workplace Rooms is a secure and easy way for coworkers to get things done and stay connected when they can’t be together in person. It’s a meeting space with unlimited time, where you can invite up to 50 people to a video call even if they’re not in […]

With podcast listenership on the rise, is there now a place for audio to become a more significant element of social platforms? Could audio tweets, for example, provide a new element to the app? It’s an interesting consideration, and recently, members of Twitter’s designed team mocked up what audio tweets might look like. As you can see in these images, shared by Owen Williams on Twitter, this is what Twitter’s ‘Hear and Now’ audio tweets might look like, and function, with clips attached to tweets, and even highlighted in a special segment. The basics of the concept are not entirely new. Back in 2018, Twitter launched audio-only live-streams, both in Twitter […]

After running an initial series of virtual workshops for group admins last month, Facebook has now announced the next sessions in its Community Education series, which are designed to help Facebook group admins maximize community engagement. Facebook’s initial workshops focused on establishing your Facebook group, and dealing with the additional challenges posed by COVID-19 – you can view the videos from that first series here. The next sessions, beginning next week, will focus on ‘Community Foundations’ and will provide key tips and notes on setting up and maintaining a thriving community. If you’re looking to get more out of your Facebook groups, they may be well worth attending – each […]

Facebook is looking to clarify its rules around how creators are allowed to use music in their content, while it’s also adding a new indicator in Facebook and Instagram live-streams to help people avoid potential copyright issues. As explained by Facebook: “We want to encourage musical expression on our platforms while also ensuring that we uphold our agreements with rights holders. These agreements help protect the artists, songwriters, and partners who are the cornerstone of the music community – and we’re grateful for how they’ve enabled the amazing creativity we’ve seen in this time.” Facebook established a new set of agreements with music publishers back in 2018, and since then, it’s […]

Twitter’s head of product Kayvon Beykpour first noted the initial stages of the project in October last year, and now, Twitter has officially confirmed that a limited group of users will have access to a live test of its audience control options for tweets, which will enable people to restrict who can reply to their updates. As explained by Twitter: “Before you Tweet, you’ll be able to choose who can reply with three options: ‘Everyone’ (standard Twitter, and the default setting), ‘Only people you follow’, or ‘Only people you mention’. Tweets with the latter two settings will be labeled and the reply icon will be grayed out so that it’s clear […]