This Week in Social and Digital (Week of July 3)
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 Restricting Reach of Link Over-Sharers
Facebook has been on a mission to clean up its platform from “fake news” since late 2016, and now it’s taking another step to to cut back on fake content.
This time its steps are less on educating users as its done with the Journalism Project. It’s now going on the offensive by deprioritizing content from users who share 50 or more public links per day with the goal of reducing “the spread of problematic links such s clickbait, sensationalism and misinformation.”
The 50-link limit is one of other signals Facebook is using to evaluate content, but Facebook has found it to be one of the strongest signals of problematic content.
This probably won’t have a major impact on publishers and brands, but users who regularly drive to publisher sites may see decreased reach, which could lead to lower site traffic for some of those publishers. That being said, this step is one removed from what may be Facebook’s “nuclear” option, removing accounts that share misinformation. That step could be problematic for Facebook and viewed as censorship, a push-and-pull, Twitter’s been contending with for some time.
Facebook’s been taking these steps for only a few months, and this is one of many quandaries the social network and its users are going to find themselves in.
Snapchat Launches New Features Including Links
Snapchat has proven in the past that it's not afraid to break the mold, and its latest update shows that this is more accurate than ever before. The messaging platform launched an update that allows users to share links while also adding some new creative tools to give Snaps a little bit extra.
Let’s talk about links because Snapchat has steered clear of any links outside of advertising on its platform until this point. With the new Paperclip feature, users can attach websites to their Snaps. From there, friends can swipe up to open a web page within Snapchat’s internal browser. This feature was only available to advertisers and Discover content in the past.
Snapchat has emphasized that any links shared should be within its community guidelines and terms of service. It will also alert users in cases they may be sharing malicious sites, such as scams and malware.
It wasn’t just links that Snapchat brought to the table. It has a new tool called Backdrops, which lets users add custom backgrounds to their Snaps. They start by tapping the Scissors tool and outlining the object or objects they want in the foreground. From there, they can add and customize their background designs. For example, you can take a photo of friends in front of a brick wall, cut out your friends and then place a background on the brick wall to create a new layer.
Snapchat users also have the ability to customize their voices in their Snaps. Users could change their voices in the past, but those customizations were only available using certain Lenses. Now, users can tap a speaker icon and edit their voices as they see fit.
The new creative tools will certainly be welcomed by the Snapchat community as they offer yet another creative way to connect with friends on the platform. These tools are unique and, for now, only available on Snapchat, which certainly creates a point of differentiation between Instagram.
What is most interesting, however, is links. Instagram has allowed verified profiles to add links to their Instagram Stories for some time. But Snapchat has made that feature available to everyone.
It is likely that this will be used only when necessary by Snapchat’s user base, but it does offer up some possibilities for publishers to drive site visits. As far as brands go, they’re best served in launching paid campaigns on Snapchat, which have allowed for links before this point, so while the addition of links is certainly interesting, the implications are far less compelling than they are for publishers and users.
Facebook Testing Group Video Chat
Facebook isn’t one to shy away from copying where others have success. Its latest focus is on group video chat, which was popularized by the app Houseparty. If you don’t remember, Houseparty was developed by the team at Meerkat after Facebook Live officially put an end to its live streaming ambitions.
Houseparty has gained a nice foothold among teens with 1.2 million users spending 20 minutes per day on platform. Facebook’s testing what is basically a duplicate app called Bonfire.
This is by no means the first time or the last time Facebook has seen features in other platforms and then copied them for itself. Facebook’s track record on doing this successfully is full of ups and downs. After all, after it failed to acquire Snapchat, Facebook launched a duplicate app called Slingshot only to have that fail miserably. But eventually Snapchat-like features made their way onto other Facebook properties, most notably Instagram. Today, Snapchat is doing what it can to keep Facebook at bay.
Bonfire may follow a similar fate. It may fail miserably, but that doesn’t mean Facebook won’t learn from it and bring features from Bonfire into its other properties.
News Quick Hits
- Apple News is becoming less restrictive in how media partners place ads within content. It is planning to let top publishers use their own tech to place ads in their content. This is significant as publishers have been debating just how much control to give to the likes of Facebook in its Instant Articles and Google in AMP content. Apple’s restrictions have limited publisher revenue, so this appears to be a step to placate their concerns.
- Facebook is testing page descriptions within cover images on desktop. Descriptions are limited to 100 characters, and cover images that feature the text have the call-to-action buttons moved to a different location.
- Facebook’s Find WiFi feature is now available globally. Find WiFi allows users to identify nearby hotspots. The feature went into testing last November.
- Facebook’s original shows are getting more firmed up with the announcement of two new shows. One will feature Mike Rowe as he showcases people doing great work in their communities called Returning the Favor. LaVar Ball will star in the second show, which is a reality show about his family.
- Instagram is getting the ability to reply to stories with photos or video. Once a user watches someone’s Instagram Story that user can choose to reply. Previously, this was limited to text, but now users can access all the features available within the Instagram camera, such as filters, stickers and Boomerang. The replies are then sent to the recipient’s direct messages. This should increase engagement and conversation with Stories, which are typically more of a means to broadcast.
- Venmo is testing a physical payment card that would be linked to users’ balances on their Venom accounts. This allows for funds to be spent immediately from Venmo instead of waiting for the funds to be transferred to a bank account.
- Google has launched native ads for AdSense publishers. This means in-feed, in-article and matched content can be managed through the platform and customized to match the look of publisher mobile sites.