Tag Archives: Social Media Today

Influencer marketing could be in for a shake-up, with the FTC calling for public comments on the need for improved disclosure in influencer arrangements and paid product endorsements on social media platforms. As explained by the FTC: “Facebook’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube are major vehicles for influencer marketing campaigns, with China-based TikTok also growing rapidly. Social media platforms promote and profit from influencer marketing in many ways. […] According to one estimate, companies spent $8 billion on advertising through social media influencers in 2019. Due to its perceived effectiveness, spending on influencer marketing is projected to increase to $15 billion by 2022. But, there is a harmful, dark side of […]

Hey, have you ever wanted to hold your Facebook group moderators more accountable for the amount of effort they do or don’t contribute to keeping your group in line? Well, you soon might have that option – Facebook is now testing a new “Top Admins and Moderators” insights stream, which would provide an overview of the total activity levels of each assigned group admin and moderator “down to the second” to help you keep them in line. As explained by Facebook (via social media expert Matt Navarra): “We know that power admins often manage their groups with a team of co-admins and moderators. Many of you have shared that you utilize […]

Snapchat is testing out a major new redesign which would expand the app from three to five definitively separated sections, and add a black navigation bar along the bottom of the screen. As reported by Casey Newton in The Interface, and as you can see in the above images, the new navigation bar would link to five sections. The first would be the Snap Map, which is currently accessible by swiping down on the main camera screen, though is not clearly noted as such anywhere in the app The second is the chat section, where you can conduct message conversations with friends (second screenshot above) The third is the main […]

News agency Reuters has announced a new agreement with Facebook which will see the company work with The Social Network to detect and address misinformation on its platform. As explained by Reuters: “The newly created fact-checking unit at Reuters will verify content posted on Facebook and Instagram and identify where media is false or misleading. The fact-checking initiative is an extension of the media verification efforts Reuters has built through its long history of providing accurate and trustworthy news content. Reuters will now assess the authenticity of user-generated photos, videos, headlines and other content on social media, in the run-up to the U.S. election and beyond.” The expansion will add more to […]

Here’s the thing – for all it’s technical prowess and consumer insight, for all its resources and its ability to connect people with relevant information, Google’s client-facing apps have generally been pretty lacking. Take, for example, it’s app ‘Uptime’, released back in 2017, which enabled users to share their YouTube viewing experience with friends, and send comments and reaction emojis during playback. It’s colorful, it taps into several key trends (emojis, messaging, video, communal viewing) – technically, Uptime should have been a hit, right? But it wasn’t. Because despite technical capacity, it’s not overly engaging, it’s not that interesting. You could argue the same about Google+ – while Google’s team is […]

Given the widespread coverage of how social media has been utilized for political manipulation, it was really only a matter of time before we saw the same tactics deployed in corporate conflict. This week, Facebook has provided an update on the latest set of accounts which it’s removed due to ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’, and while the first two groups in its listing are along similar lines to its now common reports of the same (efforts originating from Russia and Iran respectively), the third relates to a telecommunications in Myanmar, which was found to be using a group of 13 Facebook accounts and 10 Pages in order to conduct a smear […]

YouTube is testing out a new way for fans to donate money to their favorite creators, expanding on its Super Chat streamer donation system. The new option, called ‘Applause’, would enable fans to purchase an applause animation, which they could then allocate to approved YouTube videos. The team from VidIQ posted this example of what it looks like from a viewer perspective When a viewer taps on ‘Applaud’, they essentially donate $2, with 70% of that going direct to the creator (YouTube takes a 30% cut). As explained by YouTube: “You may be able to buy Viewer applause on participating creators’ videos and show your support for YouTube channels. When you […]

When LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner recently announced that he would be stepping down from the role, he also provided some details on his next step, which will be working towards “creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce”. A key element of this, it turns out, relates to who you’re connected with, an area where LinkedIn can provide significant benefit – in fact, according to Weiner, the right connections can provide you with 12x greater opportunity when seeking your ideal career. But not everyone is able to access the right networks, which is where Weiner will be focused – and where this latest report from LinkedIn comes in. […]

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sees privacy-focused communications as the future of social networking, with messaging playing a key role – and WhatsApp, Facebook’s largest messaging platform, is central to that shift. And this week, the significance of WhatsApp has been underlined once again, with the messaging app reaching a new user milestone of 2 billion monthly actives. As per WhatsApp: “We’re excited to share that, as of today, WhatsApp supports more than two billion users around the world. Mothers and fathers can reach their loved ones no matter where they are. Brothers and sisters can share moments that matter. Coworkers can collaborate, and businesses can grow by easily connecting with their […]

Looking for ways to spice up your Valentine’s Day campaigns? This may help – Google has this week published a new listing of rising Valentine’s Day trends, based on Google Trends data over the last few weeks. And they may help inform your strategic direction or tie-in – first off, Google has shared a map of the most popular romantic comedies by state. Maybe there’s a way you could incorporate popular characters or scenes, relative to interest. Google has also shared a listing of the most popular love songs: “Love Story,” Taylor Swift “Endless Love,” Diana Ross & Lionel Richie “Unchained Melody,” The Righteous Brothers “Amazed,” Lonestar “My Girl,” The […]