August 2017 Edition: The Social Media Updates You Need to Know
With July 2017 in the books, it’s that time again! We’re back to take a look at last month’s major social media updates so you can keep your social marketing efforts up to speed.
Photo + Video Replies to Instagram Stories
In early July, Instagram rolled out a new way to interact with Stories. Instead of simply sending a text response, users can now tap the camera icon and respond with a photo or video, along with all of the special effects and stickers that now come standard in the Stories camera. Replies also include a sticker of the story that users can move around and resize.
If someone replies to your story with a photo or a video, you’ll now see it in your inbox. You can tap to view it and you'll also see a sticker of the original story that’s only visible to you (and will still be visible even if you view the reply after the original story has deleted itself).
Note: If you take a screenshot or replay the message, the sender will be notified.
BONUS: Send the @dooley_media account something cool next time you see us on your IG Stories feed, and you just might get a fun reward. 😉
The Snapchat Hotdog ... and the AR "Arms Race"
By now, most Internet users have probably seen the breakdancing Snapchat hotdog. Using augmented reality (AR) technology similar to what’s used in apps like Pokemon Go, this feature lets users tap on the camera to add the animated character to whatever scene you’re pointed at.
Unfortunately (if not surprisingly) it’s done little to reverse Snap’s stock market troubles.
However, the hotdog may be just the first of many new AR features in the works in what one writer has called an “augmented arms race.” Building on now-common features like face filters and stickers that actually “stick” to the objects in your video as it moves around, Snapchat is the clear arms race winner for now. But, Facebook’s closely-held AR Studio promises to give developer access to big brands looking to engage audiences in creative new ways. Apple is also reportedly including exciting AR hardware in the next iPhone release.
But until then, this guy will just have to do:
via GIPHY
LinkedIn Notification Improvements
Yes, you can finally turn off those LinkedIn birthday notifications!
While a crucial piece of any social network, we all know that notifications can get a little annoying. LinkedIn has taken some steps to address that by letting users customize their notifications directly from the notifications tab. This includes muting/unmuting stories, unfollowing certain connections, and turning off certain notification types.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYDEl-efhqk&w=640&h=480]
Customizing your notification settings could be a great way for heavy LinkedIn users to focus in on the parts of the channel that really matter to your personal networking and your brand. If LinkedIn is a part of your marketing mix, check out your Notifications tab and see if there’s anything you can get rid of.
Don’t worry: you can always turn them back on by visiting linkedin.com/notifications/settings/.
How to Post Multiple Photos on LinkedIn
The ability to add multiple photos to a post was also announced in July. Unfortunately, you can only do this from the iPhone app, but the feature is “coming soon” to Android and desktop.
Check out even more LinkedIn updates—like searching for 2nd degree connections and the new LinkedIn Windows 10 app—here.
Wait, Where’s My Pinterest Like Button?
Last year, Pinterest changed the “Pin” button to a “Save” button, which seems to better communicate the core functionality of the platform: When you pin something, you’re really bookmarking that webpage (you just call it a Pin instead of a bookmark). Those Pins are saved into content categories (boards) for later viewing. So the button lingo change made sense!
Pinterest also recently announced the imminent death of the “Like” button, essentially doubling down on that “Save” button. The change has been rolling out for a few months, but we really only just noticed the change—apparently, we really didn’t miss the “Like” button very much afterall!
If you’re worried about all your Liked Pins disappearing, fear not: You will notice that you now have a “Secret” board called “Your Pinterest Likes” where everything is saved. If you really, er, liked liking Pins (or even like-liked liking Pins…), you can still pretend to Like-Like them by Saving them to your “Likes” board. 👍
Facebook Constituent Badges
Facebook has frequently focused on authenticity: Examples include forcing profiles to use “real” (ish) names, and child company Instagram’s recent fake engagement ban.
A similar update is the new “constituent badge.” As I’m sure you know, pretty much every politician in the world now has a Facebook page and all users are free to interact with them. However, your comments will now have a special badge next to it—the “constituent badge”—if you’re commenting on a politician who actually represents your district, state or country (i.e. your Congressman or Senator).
Some tips for using Constituent Badges:
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Users can control the badge’s visibility by visiting the new Town Hall page at facebook.com/townhall.
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The badge will only appear next to your name when you comment on one of your representative’s posts.
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If you select to show the badge, it will appear on all past comments you've made on your current representatives' posts. (It will be removed again if you turn the feature off.)
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If your representative changes, the constituent badge will be removed from past comments you made on posts of your now former representative.
As Constituent Badges were rolled out, so too was a feature called “Constituent Insights” exclusively for use by Facebook Business Pages belonging to elected officials, as well as something called “District Targeting” that lets elected officials survey their community on important issues.
Here’s what the TechCrunch report said about Constituent Insights:
“This will be available to the reps through a new Page Insights feature, available to Page admins, which includes a horizontally scrollable section where locally trending news stories appear. Here, the elected officials can click a link to post that story to their Facebook Page, along with their thoughts on the issue. Additionally, constituents will be able to browse through these same stories on a new Community tab on the official’s Facebook Page.”
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