Let's stick together
Welcome to October! It's already been a bit of a weird start to the month. Twitter had to warn its users not to wish U.S. President Donald Trump ill will after he was hospitalized for COVID-19. But after some questions about why it doesn't do this for everyone, Twitter promised it would try to do better.
This past week also had some pretty big social media updates. Here are some of the top stories in this week's newsletter:
Facebook works on consolidating its power apps
YouTube says it's sorry
Twitter addresses photo diversity concerns
And Facebook Groups are getting a reboot
Consolidating Power
Facebook hasn't been just "Facebook" for a while. It now owns several large social media and messaging apps, including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, which just add to its overall strength and reach. And now, Facebook is rolling out changes that will make it even easier to use all of these apps at the same time. Here's how...
FB Accounts Center
As of last week, Facebook started testing a new Accounts Center, which connects Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. That means one sign-on and the ability to post across apps from one location. In the future, it will also include Facebook Pay, which means entering credit card info once, but being able to pay across Facebook and Instagram. You will also be able to sync the apps so that profile updates roll out across Facebook and Instagram at the same time (such as changing your name or profile pic). Sounds simple enough.
Messenger + Instagram DMs If you logged into Instagram lately, you might have received a message asking you to "Update to Chat with Facebook Accounts." If you choose to update, you'll now be able to reply to messages in Messenger and Instagram in one place. There are several updates, including Messenger-like features, such as customizing reactions and changing chat colours. Additional features include watching videos together, vanishing messages, and selfie stickers. "Our hope is to make it easier to stay in touch with friends across our apps," Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri tweeted.
What's next
These changes come as Facebook faces a potential U.S. federal antitrust lawsuit over its social media dominance, something it's already preparing to argue against. Facebook is also obviously concerned enough about the claims in a trending Netflix documentary, "The Social Dilemma" that it decided to issue a response. The doc focuses on the evils of social media, and the need for industry regulation. Facebook says it's all sensationalism. (What's that line in Hamlet about protesting too much?)
Managing social media is hard enough — staying up-to-date shouldn't be. Level up your social media knowledge in minutes a week. Sign up for our newsletter today!
ICYMI
YouTube says sorry
YouTube apologized over the weekend for a tweet that it has since deleted (but that you can view here if you'd like). Essentially, social media folks at YouTube posted a joke about Creators that have a long intros to videos. But many called out the tweet, saying the platform's algorithm favours videos that are 10 minutes and longer, which means Creators who want to make money are forced to stretch them out. YouTube responded by saying the tweet was made "in good faith" and apologized. A couple of learning moments here:
First of all, this is a great example of what to do when that you make a mistake: Own up to it, be genuine about the mistake, and apologize. (And honestly, it will likely happen to all of us at some point).
But it also shows that it doesn't matter if you delete a tweet – once it's out there, it lives FOREVER.
(ICYMI — Hootsuite's CEO also issued an apology recently).
Oh, crop
It looks like the #BlackLivesMatter and BIPOC movements are (finally) starting to have an impact at social media companies. Twitter announced last week that it's investigating its machine-learning system that decides how to crop photos. This change comes after reports that the algorithm favours white faces over black faces, according to NPR. Just look to this Zoom example, or this other example involving former president Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Twitter responded to these reports by saying, "While our analyses to date haven’t shown racial or gender bias, we recognize that the way we automatically crop photos means there is a potential for harm." It plans to bring in changes for image cropping and previewing. Stay tuned...
Coming to your News Feed...
In the coming months, expect to see some changes to Facebook Groups. Perhaps the biggest change is that FB is going to start testing ways "to discover conversations in Public groups on and off Facebook." This includes showing related discussions in your News Feed when someone posts a link or reshares an article. In the Groups tab, you may also start to see posts from Public Groups related to your interests. The updates, announced at Facebook's annual conference for group administrations, also includes new admin tools and new conversations starters, such as real-time chats, Q&As, and a feature called Prompts that Facebook says is "a new type of collaborative post where you can share photos about a specific topic and swipe through everyone’s responses."
NEWS-LIKE
🔴 Twitter's 'Birdwatch' is an Experiment in Fighting Misinformation [Engadget]
🔴 U.S. Appeals Injunction Against WeChat Ban [New York Times]
🔴 Facebook, Google and Twitter Chief Executives to Testify to Congress Ahead of 2020 Election [The Washington Post]
🔴 Pinterest is Trying to Make This Halloween More Culturally Sensitive [Mashable]
🔴 Twitter's Voice Tweets Are Rolling Out to More iOS Users, And Transcriptions Are On The Way [The Verge]
🔴 QAnon Lands on LinkedIn, Prompting Networking Site to Limit Spread [Wall Street Journal]
BLOG-LIKE
September was another busy month for social media updates. Take a look back at the top headlines and trends in this September social media recap!
PROUD-LIKE
The hashtag #ProudBoys was trending over the weekend — in the best way possible. The LGBTQ+ community took over the hashtag, typically used by an all-male group known for ties to white supremacy and violence against protesters. The Proud Boys began trending last week after Trump mentioned them at Tuesday night's presidential debate, saying they should "stand back and stand by." Looks like the LGBTQ+ community stood up instead. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Hey, congrats — you made it to the bottom of the e-newsletter!
If you really liked it, why not forward it to a friend. 💌