Social Media Musings from a Millennial
We’re here to help you keep your finger on the pulse of the ever-changing world of social media. Don’t miss the latest changes, updates and happenings on your favorite social media platforms.
Facebook wants to be hoax-free. Facebook introduced a new feature to crack down on hoaxes and spam articles in the News Feed. When users see a false news story — either as a link, photo or video post — they can report it as false. If a large number of users report or delete a certain post, Facebook will automatically reduce its visibility in the News Feed. While these posts won’t be deleted, a message will appear warning users that the post has been reported as containing false information. This is a necessary move if Facebook wants to compete with Twitter for distribution of timely and accurate news.
Group DMs and videos, coming to Twitter. Twitter announced two new features coming soon to the social networking platform. Group Direct Messaging will allow a group of up to 20 Twitter users to converse privately on the network. The second feature introduced this week is one of my favorite Twitter upgrades. Users will be able to capture, edit and share videos right from the Twitter app. A step up from Twitter-owned Vine, videos will have a 30-second maximum.
Discover with Snapchat. While other networks are fine-tuning features and services, Snapchat unveiled a brand new component to the app. Snapchat Discover is a new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams, including CNN, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, Daily Mail, ESPN and National Geographic. Per the official company post, “It’s the result of a collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first. This is not social media.”
Pinterest steps up ad game. Social bookmarking service Pinterest is getting ready for a very busy 2015. The platform already collects detailed behavioral data on users and is hoping to develop ad products to get marketers advertising on the platform. On the heels of the Promoted Pins ad product launch in December, Pinterest’s head of operations announced the company is exploring new forms of advertising on the platform.
Twitter asks BFFs to not to hang out with Instagram. Twitter reached out to a group of the social network’s high-profile users, encouraging them not to tweet links to Instagram photos and instead post photos directly through Twitter. While this strategy may be highly effective for middle school friendships, we’ll see if it pays off for the social network.
True or false? The average Internet user has 5.5 social media accounts but only actively uses 2.8 of them. According to new data from GlobalWebIndex, it’s true. While 16-24 year-olds have the most social media accounts, 25-34 year-olds are actually the most engaged users.
How many social media platforms are you on? Leave a comment below to let us know.