January Social Media Roundup
Twitter looks at expanding its 140 character limit to 10,000 – In a departure from its most defining characteristic, Twitter is in the process of building a new feature which will allow users to tweet content longer than 140 characters. It looks as though this change will be implemented by the end of this quarter. Following the update, tweets will continue to look as they do now though with a ‘see more’ button included to allow users to access additional content.
Politicians are going to have to think even more carefully before they tweet: Twitter recently announced that it is resurrecting Politwoops, a site that archives tweets by politicians to ensure that even deleted posts will remain on public record. The site was blocked earlier last year when Twitter stopped giving it access to the code that made the preservation of tweets possible. Politwoops will relaunch ‘in the coming months’ in more than the 30 countries in which it was previously available
Facebook can show you the best performing posts from your competitors – Facebook has quietly rolled out a new feature within page insights which shows users which posts in their ‘Pages to Watch’ section (which can be filled with competitors) have seen the most engagement. This insight, which will be refreshed once a week, will allow users to understand what kinds of content their target audiences value.
Twitter is turning everyday tweets into marketing content – Twitter is developing a new advertising offering, which is based on what they’re calling a ‘brand enthusiast’ gallery. It will collect tweets from normal people about brands which advertisers can then seek out and promote – the idea being that these fan posts would seem more ‘trusted’. Users will be asked for their permission before their tweets are used. This marks a new and interesting twist in the relationship between brands and their followers.
Periscope videos now auto-play on Twitter – Periscope is an app which live-streams content and hosts it on Twitter. This month, the popular app announced that it now auto plays videos in Twitter feeds (i.e. as users scroll down their feeds, Periscope videos will automatically play rather than be accessed via a link). Live-streaming will be huge this year – for both business and personal use.
Pinterest looks at launching video advertising – Pinterest has announced plans to roll out video ads, following the likes of Facebook and Twitter into this lucrative part of the digital advertising industry. Their strategy will be to develop their existing video proposition and get users using organic video more before monetising it (a similar tactic to Facebook). It is not yet known when video ads will launch.
Facebook ‘Call to Action’ buttons can now be analysed – the social network has long been urging advertisers to add a ‘Call to Action’ button to their company pages, such as ‘Book Tickets’, ‘Shop Now’, ‘Contact Us’ or ‘Watch Video’. Facebook has just announced that page managers can track whether users are clicking on these buttons, which they couldn’t do before.
Peach – the new platform taking the tech world by storm – A new social media platform was released this month from the creators of Vine. Peach has been described by TechCrunch as ‘a slick new messaging app’ to rival Facebook Messenger (which just hit 800m monthly users) and WhatsApp despite the fact it doesn’t allow users to direct message each other. It actually has more in common with Twitter in that all messages are published on a public wall. Peach has been praised for its ‘slick onboarding’ and searchable commands. Users say it reminds them of the early days of Twitter. One of the main benefits is that all information is contained within the app, unlike most other social networks.