+44(0)120 691 6300
In the past couple of weeks social media networks have been faced with combatting hate-speech and misinformation from around the world, but this hasn’t stopped them from producing updates and evolving platforms. Here is your weekly list of social media news highlights from the past 7 days!
Hungry for more recent social media news? Click here to take a look at This Week In Social’s of the past, but make sure to catch up on this week’s news first!
This week, Facebook have rolled out Facebook News to all American users this week. The News tab will be found in the app menu – instead of having its own mini tab – and will be monitored by both human and machine. Users will be able to share articles with their friends and react to stories in stream, but they will not have the option to comment. In light of the pandemic, research shows that news is important to Facebook users, with two thirds of Americans now looking to social media to inform them on events.
Facebook have also deactivated almost 200 accounts linked to hate groups. Accounts connected with white supremacist organisations have been banned on Facebook as they attempted to rally supporters to attend protests against black police officers. Last week, Facebook limited the spread of groups and pages connected to terms promoting a second American Civil War. Are Facebook doing enough to prevent racism on the platform? Let us know.
Twitter is adding a new prompt for when users retweet a link without opening it. Up until now Twitter has given it’s users the freedom to share articles without having read them, leading to “fake news” articles spreading fast and misinformation being discussed. However, yesterday it was announced that Twitter is adding a prompt to ask users if they would like to read the article before rewteeting it. Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s Product Chief, said “It’s easy for links/articles to go viral on Twitter. This can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people haven’t read the content they’re spreading. This feature (on Android for now) encourages people to read a linked article prior to Retweeting it.”
Rumours this week reveal that Twitter could re-open public applications for profile verification. The quest for the blue tick continues, but the path to get there might be going back it’s old routes. In November 2017 the application to be Twitter Verified was shut down after confusion over how it was applied, and since the process has been internal. However, as Twitter recently used the blue tick system to decipher authoritative voices in relation to COVID-19 it might be back on their list of priorities. Watch this space…
The number of in-game advertisements as increased in lockdown. Marketers have seen the opportunity to advertise in-game during the pandemic, and there is growing interest in how to run gaming campaigns. Adidas is the most recent brand to test in-game advertising with their recreation of the cancelled European Championship in FIFA Playstation. Matches were streamed across Facebook Live, IGTV and YouTube. Misha Sher, Mediacom’s worldwide Vice President of Sport and Entertainment said “All the consumption of gaming during the lockdown has further legitimised it as a proper entertainment marketing vehicle”.
LinkedIn is testing a new “Current status” option, enabling users to share they they’e up to with a one-line summary. LinkedIn users will be allocated 75 characters in a status which will be displayed when people hover over your profile in the app. LinkedIn have confirmed the test, stating “We’re always exploring new ways to improve our members’ experience on LinkedIn, including features to help best represent themselves on their LinkedIn profile and with their LinkedIn community.”
YouTube attempts to increases transparency with in-depth guide to monetisation. Find out which types of content YouTube determine to be ad-worthy, and which types of content they don’t using YouTube’s new guide. One of the most important subjects addressed is advertising allowances on “harmful content”, which outlines that YouTube will allow ads to run on news content addressing topics like homophobia and “artistic content” (like music videos) which use “sensitive terminology in a non-hateful way”. According to the new guidelines “fleeting references” to sensitive subjects is permitted in more run-of-the-mill videos and events which might be sensitive to discuss must be “recent” to receive monetisation status. Confused? Us too.
