This week, the social media world focused on growth. Whether that’s adding new features, making apps more accessible, or Snapchat’s rapid rise to the top, the constant evolution of these products is what lets us connect in new ways and faster than ever.
From podcasts to web series to GIFs, it’s clear President Barack Obama is no stranger to new media. In fact, it has been a strength of his administration these past six and a half years, and a key mode of communication with the younger generation, using it to promote the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and connect directly with his constituents.
With election 2016 news ramping up, here’s a look back at our current POTUS’s best new-media endeavors.
What did we learn this week in social media? The Twitter world is becoming a safer place, thanks to the introduction of its new Safety Center, and Instagram is improving its search features for the web. Flipagram just scored some massive funding, and just for funsies this Friday, a few unproductive things you can do with Google. Enjoy!
Every day we express our joy, anger, disappointment, elation, and every other imaginable emotion in quite a modern way, through the use of our favorite little emojis. As they pepper your texts and your tweets, do you ever just sit back and think about just how major a part they’ve become in our every day lives?
Social media outlets are making it easier to get all the info you want and nothing you don’t. The latest updates on Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter are all about personalization, aiming to cultivate and keep track of all the different ways people use these apps.
To make your brand stand out from all the others, it’s important to have a plan to help navigate the fast-paced world of online marketing. In this week’s Social Report, we cover a few of Instagram’s latest photo features and how marketers can use them to their advantage.
In other news, Facebook made some female-friendly changes, and our own Lauren Metter shares a bit about our story with IM Boston.
Earlier this month, Pinterest announced a future app update that will include pins allowing users to directly purchase a pinned item from within the platform. This new feature seems like a boon for retailers – less work to purchase means pinners are more likely to actually buy – but what will this decision bring for casual users who primarily pin for inspiration and ideas?
The app already contains Promoted Pins, cluttering searches with irrelevant results based on which businesses have invested in advertising on the site. How will Buyable Pins compare?
As smartphone use increases across the world, social media is becoming more intelligent. Apps are learning what we like (whether you like it or not) and are using this information to let us communicate – and shop – with just one touch. Meanwhile, the information our phones learn about us is also surprisingly useful for solving real world problems, too (like traffic!).
Social media technology is constantly being developed and used in different ways to capitalize upon its benefits, for both brands and individuals. It’s a perk for both parties (companies have new ways of reaching customers, and as personal users we get a whole new range of apps and features) and the developments help emphasize the whole reason we’re on social media to begin with – community.
This week, Instagram users are able to find your photos more easily thanks to a new crop of third-party search engines, two Romanian widows helped cure people’s loneliness via Facebook, and today, Snapchat explores Boston through the eyes of those who live here.
This week in the #MMSocialReport, social media seeks to fill the gaps left by traditional media. Whether that’s offering new ways for people to connect, utilizing networks to provide disaster-relief information, or promoting artists and businesses who would otherwise fly under the radar, the significance of social media grows with every innovation. We’re happy to be along for the ride.