This Week in Social is a weekly digest of some of the biggest stories in social media marketing news. These stories are the show notes for the Brave Ad World Podcast. Each story is discussed at a deeper level on the podcast.

Facebook Acquires TBH

Facebook has acquired TBH (To Be Honest), an app for teens that allows them to answer questions about their contacts, for an undisclosed sum.

TBH's goal is to be “the only anonymous app with positive vibes,” so it’s working to avoid the trap Secret fell into of being overrun with bullying. It does this by allowing users to anonymously send compliments to their friends by answering polls with questions like, “Who can’t you wait to see next?” The poll-like nature of the platform restricts what kinds of things people can say, and all of the polls are meant to inspire positivity.

TBH has been downloaded 5 million times and has been used to send 1 billion messages.

It’s unclear what role TBH will play for Facebook, but it seems to be part of Facebook’s strategy for acquiring younger users. By the end of this year, there are likely to be more 12-24 year-old Snapchat users than Facebook users in the same demographic. With that in mind, Facebook’s taking a similar approach as it did with WhatsApp and Instagram. If you can’t get them, buy where they’re spending their time.

Facebook Rolls Out Explore Feed

Facebook Users will soon have access to a new News Feed called “Explore.” Explore is a separate tab that brings in posts, photos, articles and videos from Pages a user doesn’t follow but may fit a user’s interests.

The tool gives Facebook a pretty sticky experience to keep users engaged and fed content that keeps them on the website. It also exposes Facebook users to perspectives and content they might not normally see, which helps address criticisms aimed at Facebook for putting users in bubbles that don’t allow differing points of view. For brands, there may be an opportunity for their content to be fed to more people, but at the moment this update is primarily geared toward publishers.

Pinterest Search Ads Available in Ads Manager

Pinterest is making targeted ads based on search available to all advertisers through Ads Manager. The offering was only available to a select group of partners since earlier this year. The ads can be targeted to users based on searches for products and also be auto-targeted based on the 5,000 interests in Pinterest’s Taste Graph. Ads can also be targeted by exact keyword match, phrase match or broader match targeting. Terms can also be excluded.

This move only further solidifies PInterest as a search platform more in line with Google search than anything else. Pinterest is a place where users can find inspiration and go further by taking action based off of those.

News Quick Hits

Facebook is testing an update to its Audience Insights Tool that allows advertisers to get information on what content people are posting. Up until this point, Facebook’s largely been a black box in terms of the content people are sharing. User identities are withheld. The tool could enable advertisers to identify groups of people and tailor ads to those specific segments. The feature, should it rollout more fully, will take its time as Facebook is working to maintain user privacy.
Facebook users can now place food delivery orders directly on the social platform using third-party delivery services like Door Dash. They can also order directly from restaurants like Five Guys, Chipotle and Papa John’s. Facebook’s goal for the feature is to keep users on the site for just a bit longer. Instead of leaving Facebook to place an order, they can just do it on the site.
Nielsen has announced that it can now measure the viewing of all content, including Netflix Originals, through its new Subscription Video On Demand Content Ratings. Up until this point, Nielsen’s online video measurement was limited to content that came from opted-in studios and networks. It currently only includes Netflix but will expand to include Amazon and Hulu as well. Delivery time for data is more than a week, but it is available at both the season and episode level.
Twitter’s taking what are its most aggressive steps yet in combatting hate speech on the platform. It is now banning non-consensual nudity, unwanted sexual advances, hate symbols and imagery, violent groups and tweets that glorify violence. Twitter’s been hesitant to curb free speech, but the recent #MeToo campaign shared by women who have experienced unwanted and unsolicited treatment based on their sex prompted Twitter to take further action. The Anti-Defamation League helped Twitter with the policy. This will result in the removal of more content from Twitter.
Twitter introduced a new ad unit called Video Website Card, which it says is meant to combine “the power of video with the ability to drive users back to a site to learn more or take action in the moment.” The ads work as auto-play video and feature customizable headlines that can be tapped to preview a website and drive users to click through. The ads can be optimized for video views, clicks or awareness. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but given the prominence of video, it could certainly be useful.
Facebook Live got an update that removes the need to use third-party software for live streaming screen shares. There’s now a “Share Screen” button that lets a streamer choose if he or she would like to share a window, browser tab or application.
Amazon is giving brands the chance to enhance their product pages with multimedia displays, videos and interactive experiences for the low, low price of $500,000 per year per brand. For brands doing a significant amount of sales on Amazon, it may be worth he investment, but the price is certainly prohibitive to most. Given that Amazon is a digital experience with no in-store displays, this experience makes brands feel a bit more premium, like an in-store display in a brick-and-mortar location might.