Tag Archives: Social Media Today

With the Coronavirus outbreak slowly spreading across the globe, people are understandably spooked and looking for more information. And given the propensity for people to get their news updates from Facebook, it’s a fairly safe bet that many will be looking there – and with 2.5 billion active users, it’s now likely the best platform to reach the maximum amount of people, and disseminate necessary information on the latest updates, relevant to each region. Late last month, Facebook outlined its initial response to the outbreak, which included increased fact-checking and removal of misinformation, along with dedicated News Feed notifications for users in relevant regions, as guided by the World Health […]

This will be welcome news to many. This week, after months of testing and teasing the option, Facebook has officially announced the launch of dark mode for WhatsApp. [embedded content] The experiences documented in the video are no doubt familiar to many – and now, you’ll no longer have to suffer the same. As per Facebook: “Dark mode for WhatsApp offers a fresh look on a familiar experience. It’s designed to reduce eye strain in low light environments. And we hope it helps prevent those awkward moments when your phone lights up the room.” Dark mode has been one of the app’s most requested features, with users repeatedly calling on the […]

Instagram looks to be trying to add in a TikTok-style video response option for IGTV, with a new ‘Video Reactions’ option in testing that would enable IGTV creators to allow viewers to respond to their content with videos of their own. As you can see in this example, posted by reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong, there’s a new ‘Video Reactions’ option built into the IGTV upload process, which, when active, would enable viewers to reply with their own video response. That, as noted, sounds similar to TikTok’s video Reactions option, which overlays a video response over the original video post, providing another way to engage with clips. Reactions and Duets have […]

With Coronavirus concerns rising, Google has this week announced that it will make its advanced group video calling tools available to all G Suite users for free, in order to provide additional options for those looking to reduce in-person gatherings. As explained by Google: “We’re committed to helping students and their teachers continue learning outside of school. In Hong Kong and Vietnam, where schools have already been closed, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of students start using both Hangouts Meet and Google Classroom, to join classes and continue their schooling remotely from home. And, as more businesses adjust their work-from-home policies and adopt reduced travel plans in response to COVID-19, we’re […]

According to Animoto’s latest social platform insights, marketers are flocking to Facebook Stories and YouTube to elevate their brands in 2020. Really, the results come as little surprise. Given the rising popularity of the Stories format, and the enduring video dominance of YouTube, it makes sense that marketers would be looking to the channels where they have the potential to reach the largest audiences. YouTube now has more than 2 billion monthly active users, and while the Stories format hasn’t taken off as well on Facebook as it did on Instagram, Facebook has over 2.5b monthly actives. Marketers are now looking to increase their investment in both platforms. Here are […]

It’s 2020. Most business owners have a reasonable understanding of how Google chooses which websites to display in search results by now. Right? Well, kind of – according to a survey conducted by Fractl in the second half of 2019, which incorporated responses from over 900 Americans, with 394 of them being business owners, there are still some knowledge gaps of note, which highlights some potential flaws in digital marketing approaches. Specifically, Fractl found that: Nearly a quarter of business owners surveyed were either vaguely or not at all familiar with SEO 59% of respondents felt confident that they understood what ‘organic search’ means Only 23.7% of respondents knew what SERP stands for […]

Over the last few years, Facebook has provided regular updates on clusters of accounts that it’s detected which have been engaged in what it calls “coordinated inauthentic behavior” – essentially, broad-scale operations designed to misinform and mislead Facebook users. Following the 2016 US Presidential Election, and revelations of foreign interference in political process, Facebook has been taking a more proactive approach to keeping the public informed of its efforts. And now, Facebook is looking to consolidate these reports into a monthly summary, providing overviews of each individual misinformation campaign, and how it operated, along with the scope of action Facebook has taken against it. As explained by Facebook: “Over the past […]

Last week, Facebook began rolling out a new, streamlined version of Messenger on iOS, which most notably sees the removal of the ‘Discover’ tab, narrowing your in-app navigation options. The update is in line with Facebook’s long-standing vision to simplify its core messaging surface after years of updates and changes “cluttered” the app. And this week, Facebook has provided a more comprehensive overview of exactly how the new upgrade improves the app’s performance, while also outlining why Facebook has chosen to undertake such a significant revamp of the app. The key element here is speed – as outlined by Facebook: “People turn to messaging apps throughout the day to stay in […]

One of the key elements that eventually lead to the demise of short-form video app Vine was its inability to offer revenue-generation tools for top creators. As goes the story, a group of Vine’s top creators, who had seen other Vine makers migrating to YouTube and Instagram to make money, met with Vine management in 2016 and called on the company to formulate a better revenue-sharing process, or see them abandon the platform, taking their audiences with them. Vine, and parent company Twitter, were unable to come up with a workable alternative, so the creators left, in what eventually proved to be the final blow for the app. Vine co-founder […]