Tag Archives: Social Media Today

I’m not 100% clear on how this might be used, but according to a new discovery by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, Facebook is working on a new COVID-19 themed Reaction, providing another option for people to quickly respond to relevant posts. Which is a little strange. Reactions, of course, are designed for exactly that purpose, to express an emotion triggered by the relevant post, without having to comment, and beyond a simple ‘Like’. So in this sense, what would be the emotion people are sharing? And if it’s not designed to represent a response, what is it for? This wouldn’t be the first time that Facebook has experimented […]

While Facebook has made VR a key focus as the next evolution for social networks, AR also plays an important part, and could be key to bridging the gap between where we are now and that next stage. And this week, Facebook has taken a big step towards maximizing its potential in the AR race by striking a deal with microLED provider Plessey, which is one of the few companies that’s able to provide the key components required to make functional AR glasses a reality. As announced by Plessey: “We have decided to work with Facebook to help achieve their vision of the next computing platform centred around people. Under […]

Following on from the $1 million in grants that it’s already announced for local news organizations that are covering COVID-19, Facebook has this week pledged another $100 million in funding for local news organizations, many of whom are now struggling to maintain their margins amid the expanding COVID-19 shutdowns. As detailed by Facebook: “Today we’re announcing an additional $100 million investment to support the news industry – $25 million in emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project, and $75 million in additional marketing spend to move money over to news organizations around the world.” The funding split will see some money directly flowing through to selected publications and […]

Amid the COVID-19 lockdowns, live-streaming is having a renaissance, with people looking to replace their lost social interactions as best they can, and the real-time engagement of streaming providing the closest alternative. Video chat app Zoom, for example, has seen a big increase in usage, while multi-participant video chat app Houseparty is also on the rise. Instagram has also recognized this, fast-tracking the roll-out of its co-watching feature, which enables users to share their saved, liked and suggested photos/videos in the app with up to six people at a time via video chat. And now, Instagram may be looking to make another move to cater to increased usage on this front. […]

If you want to maximize the performance of your Facebook ads, you have to be willing to put the time in, and to try out different audience targeting options and creative elements in order to see which ones gain the most traction, helping to refine your results. To help with this, Facebook has this week added a new ‘Experiments’ section to Ads Manager, which will provide a central home for all your Facebook ad tests and results, making it easier to track and measure your variables – and ultimately, improve your approach. As explained by Facebook: “Experiments combines multiple types of tests, formerly labeled as Test and Learn and Split Testing, […]

Published March 30, 2020 Are you struggling to come up with new content ideas? Need help creating engaging content to share with your readers and followers? The team from Red Website Design share 10 tools to help generate blog content ideas in this infographic. Here’s what makes the list: Check out the infographic for more detail. A version of this post was first published on the Red Website Design blog. Filed Under: Content Marketing Digital Strategy

With millions of people adjusting to working from home amid the COVID-19 lockdowns, many are being faced with an entirely new situation, and it can be difficult to make that adjustment, and maximize your productivity outside the confines of your regular office. But there’s a range of tools that can help. In this post, we’re going to take a look at 50 tools and apps that can significantly improve your WFH process, and ensure you’re able to stay on task while operating from your home office (or kitchen table, or bed, whatever the case may be). Take a look at this list – there’s bound to be a few suggestions […]

Like all social networks, Twitter is seeing unprecedented levels of demand amid the COVID-19 lockdowns. And this week, it’s outlined how it’s working to keep its systems running, while operating with reduced staff and hardware capacity, as it too grapples with the various impacts of the expanding outbreak. As explained by Twitter: “Keeping the service running and the Tweets flowing is one of our top priorities in these difficult times. Our work has never been more critical and our service has never been in higher demand. In the past few weeks, we have seen more and more people turn to Twitter to participate in the public conversation and follow what’s happening […]

Instagram looks to be testing yet another Stories addition, with Twitter user Václav Blahout sharing these images of a new, animated selfie sticker tool that overlays graphics and effects related to different emoji characters on top of your image. The option is available (to those who can access it) via a new ‘Selfie’ sticker option, and the rounded, selfie stickers can be applied as many times as you like within a Stories frame. If it does get a wider release, it would be another creative consideration for your Stories. And it looks impressive – you can imagine that it will prove popular, if, again, it does, in fact, end up getting […]

Earlier this week, Facebook reported that it’s seeing record high levels of demand for its services amid the rolling COVID-19 lockdowns across the globe. Messaging activity is up 50% across Messenger and WhatsApp, while the use of live video on Messenger is up 70%. Another area where Facebook has seen a major increase in interest is Facebook Live. According to the head of Facebook’s main app Fidji Simo, the number of people in the US watching live-streams via Facebook Live has also risen by 50% since January. These increases, of course, make sense – more people are stuck at home, with no social outlet, so they’re turning to the next […]