Social media has been abuzz this week, with lots of big announcements from all the big players: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Katch is a social media agency that knows what it takes to stay ahead of the game. That’s why our motley crew of social media consultants likes to stay on top of the latest stories, announcements and developments from the world of social media. Below, we look at the news that has been sparking major conversations online this week.
Facebook is set to roll out a ‘News Tab’ in Autumn. The new feature aims to provide Facebook users with “trustworthy news”, as the social media giant looks set to use a team of journalists, rather than algorithms, to curate the ‘News Tab’. Widespread reports have suggested that Facebook will pay news outlets, such as The Washington Post, Bloomberg, ABC News, and Dow Jones, millions of dollars for the licensed use of their content.
LinkedIn has added an ‘Insights and Research‘ page to its ‘Success Hub‘. The section gathers a variety of new and existing LinkedIn features in one spot. Marketers will now be able to access extensive insights, relating to audiences and verticals, to support their marketing decisions, strengthen their strategies and further their understanding of the overall LinkedIn ad landscape.
Twitter has launched a 6-second video bid option for advertisers. The video bid unit, which applies to videos that are 15 seconds or less, means advertisers will be charged only after their video has been viewed for 6 seconds. In another announcement, the San Francisco-headquartered company also revealed that it is testing a new feature called ‘Topic Lists‘. The lists are designed to keep users in the loop, based on their chosen interests, when it comes to specific topics, by displaying carefully curated tweets from relevant accounts.
YouTube
YouTube has confirmed that, from September 24th onwards, its Originals series, movies and live broadcasts will be available to all viewers, free of charge. Currently, original content is offered exclusively to YouTube’s Premium subscribers. When the changes come into effect, Premium subscribers will have the advantage of ad-free viewing, as well as the option of accessing downloadable content for offline use.
Instagram has announced that Spark AR effects are now available to all its users. Additionally, the photo and video-sharing platform is introducing a new ‘Effect Library’, which will enable users to discover niche AR effects from up-and-coming artists. The effects can be easily accessed through the ‘Browse Effects’ option.
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