• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • AI Explored Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🌟 AI Society
  • 🗓️ Marketing Conference
  • đź‘‹ About Us
    • Marketing Events
  • Search
  • Embrace AI & MarketingGet Ongoing Training & SupportBEGIN YOUR JOURNEY NOW

    Facebook Rolls Out Three New Features for Stories

    by Grace Duffy / May 19, 2018

    social media research
    Welcome to this week's edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media.

    On this week's Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore New Facebook Stories features, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, and other breaking social media marketing news of the week!

    Watch the Social Media Marketing Talk Show

    If you're new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, May 18, 2018. You can also listen to the show as an audio podcast, found on iTunes/Apple Podcast, Android, Google Play, Stitcher, and RSS.

    For this week's top stories, you'll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the replay above.

    Facebook Stories Reaches 150 Million Active Users and Tests Stories Ads: With a reported 150 million daily active users on Facebook Stories, Facebook announced it is now testing the first Stories ads in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil. For now, these early ads will consist of 5- to 15-second videos that can be skipped. They will not have a call-to-action or click-through, but TechCrunch reports that Facebook plans to add this options “in the coming months.” Facebook also plans to provide businesses with more metrics on their Stories performance to prove their worth in driving ad revenues and goals. (3:05 and 17:50) 

    Facebook Stories reveals 150M daily viewers and tests first ads https://t.co/e2hRDNQXs3 by @joshconstine pic.twitter.com/pdaIST4TKo

    — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 17, 2018

    Facebook Experiments With Three New Stories Features: Facebook began rolling out three new Stories updates in India this week and plans to expand them to the rest of the world “shortly thereafter.” These new features include the ability to save your photos and videos directly to your account in the Facebook cloud and to share audio posts that simply combine a voice message with a colored background or photo. Facebook is also testing the option to archive favorite Facebook stories. (6:28)

    Snapchat left the door open for Facebook’s Stories to win the globe https://t.co/yM7Jt2Ki6v

    — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 16, 2018

    Facebook Rolls Out Reporting Tool to Messenger: Facebook users can now report abuse or Community Standards violations directly from any Messenger conversation with a new reporting tool built into the platform. This new tool can be found on the web, iOS, and Android versions of Messenger and is available in over 50 languages. (21:50)

    AI Business Society

    Ready to Unlock AI Marketing Breakthroughs?

    If you’re like most of us, you are trying to figure out how to use AI in your marketing. Here's the solution: The AI Business Society—a new AI marketing community from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

    The AI Business Society is the place to discover how to apply AI in your work. When you join, you'll boost your productivity, unlock your creativity, and make connections with other marketers on a similar journey.

    I'M READY TO BECOME AN AI-POWERED MARKETER

    Reporting Made Easier
    Posted by Messenger on Monday, May 14, 2018

    Facebook Targets Teens With Youth Portal: Facebook launched Youth Portal, a central place for teens that features first-person accounts from teens around the world, advice on how to navigate social media and the Internet, and tips on how to manage and control their experience on Facebook. The portal is available in 60 languages and is part of Facebook's other ongoing initiatives to reach out to young social media users. (25:13)

    Facebook launched Youth Portal, a central place for teens that includes first-person accounts from teens around the world, advice on how to navigate social media and the internet, and tips on how to control and get the most from their experience on Facebook.

    YouTube Launches YouTube Music and Replaces YouTube Red With YouTube Premium: In two separate announcements issued by YouTube this week, the company introduced a new music streaming service called YouTube Music that promises to make “the world of music easier to explore and more personalized than ever,” and announced that YouTube Red, the company's subscription video streaming service, is becoming YouTube Premium. (30:48)

    YouTube introduced a new music streaming service called YouTube Music.

    YouTube Premium will integrate an ad-free version of YouTube Music into its service, feature more original series and movies, and offer ad-free, background play, and downloads across YouTube. YouTube Premium rolls out soon in existing YouTube Red markets, which include the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and South Korea, and is coming soon to Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

    YouTube Introduces New Tools to Manage Viewing Experience: At the Google I/O Conference last week, the company introduced a series of new controls for YouTube that will allow users to set limits on their endless video viewing. Users can now set a reminder to “take a break” every 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 minutes of consecutive viewing time, at which point YouTube will display a prompt and the video will pause. YouTube states that it's launching this series of updates to its mobile app “to help everyone develop their own sense of digital wellbeing.” (37:23)

    Discover Proven Marketing Strategies and Tips

    Want to go even deeper with your marketing? Check out the Social Media Marketing Podcast! Publishing weekly since 2012, the Social Media Marketing Podcast helps you navigate the constantly changing marketing jungle, with expert interviews from marketing pros.

    But don’t let the name fool you. This show is about a lot more than just social media marketing. With over 600 episodes and millions of downloads each year, this show has been a trusted source for marketers for well over a decade.

    CHECK OUT THE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PODCAST NOW

    YouTube rolls out new tools to help you “take a break” https://t.co/0ydlfdVSjX

    — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 12, 2018

    YouTube also introduced two new settings to manage alerts and notifications. One allows users to disable notifications during a set period of the day. The second allows users to receive a scheduled notification digest, which combines every individual notification normally received from the app into a single list that's delivered at a specified time of day. All of these features are currently available in the latest version of the YouTube mobile app.

    YouTube Tests Incognito Mode on Android App: Android Police reports that YouTube is testing the ability to watch videos on its mobile app in Incognito mode. Those who have access to this new viewing option can find it in the account settings along with the options to Switch Account and Sign Out. YouTube hasn't yet shared any detail on when this tool will be rolling out to all users. (38:41)

    YouTube is testing an Incognito Mode in its Android app https://t.co/oUINk9C0oHpic.twitter.com/cM2nRl3GWP

    — Android Police (@AndroidPolice) May 15, 2018

    Facebook Debuts Updates to Ads Reporting: Facebook announced plans to roll out an updated version of Ads Reporting that will make it “faster and easier to analyze ad performance” over the next month. The new, improved Ads Reporting experience will enable admins to analyze dimensions such as age, gender, and placement and easily identify their best-performing ad creative. Facebook is also adding admins' campaign structure to the side editing panel, so they'll be able to see and edit their campaign all in one place.

    Facebook announced plans to roll out an updated version of Ads Reporting that will make it

    LinkedIn Adds Ability to Follow Hashtags: LinkedIn delivered an alert stating that members can now follow hashtags they're “interested in to see this content at the top of [their] feed.” This new tool is presented as another way to personalize one's LinkedIn feed and appears to function the same way as Instagram's Follow Hashtag tool. This new LinkedIn feature was discovered by Dave Musson.

    Follow hashtags on LinkedIn? Not seen this before…have you @MattNavarra🤔? pic.twitter.com/Uwb7kQD6Oc

    — Dave Musson (@davemusson) May 13, 2018

    Facebook Introduces New Dynamic Ads for Auto Dealers: Facebook combined dynamic ads and lead gen ads for autos and introduced a new type of ad that enables automotive companies to use their vehicle catalog to increase the relevance of their ads and target potential car buyers. These new dynamic lead gen ads will encourage potential buyers to complete a lead form that can be sent directly to a CRM for local sales representatives to follow up on.

    Facebook introduced dynamic ads which enable automotive companies to use their vehicle catalog to increase the relevance of their ads.

    Instagram Experiments With Possible Usage Insights Dashboard and Comment Features: Code found within Instagram's Android app reveals that the company is testing a new Usage Insights dashboard that will show users their “time spent” on the platform. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed that the company is developing tools that will help its community know and understand more about the time they spend on Instagram.

    It's true. RT @TechCrunch: Code buried in Instagram’s Android app reveals a “Usage Insights” feature that will show users their “time spent” https://t.co/1Lt3DgIFEj

    — Kevin S. (@kevin) May 16, 2018

    TechCrunch also reports that Instagram is also testing a new commenting interface with a row of quick-add emojis, an @ button for quickly tagging friends, and the ability to reply to a comment directly from a notification without opening the Instagram app.

    WhatsApp Adds New Group Messaging Tools: WhatsApp launched a series of new features to streamline group conversations and make it easier for admins to manage their groups. Admins can now set a description of their community and decide who else can change the group's subject, icon, or description. Users will be able to get a group catch-up that shows messages in which they were mentioned and search for others in the group. This update rolled out for both iOS and Android.

    Twitter Limits Trolls, Bots, and Other Abusive Behavior: In Twitter's latest attempt to “improve the health of the public conversation” on its platform, the company announced that it will now use behavioral signals to identify harassers and limit the visibility of their tweets. Early testing of this new approach has proven to have a positive impact, resulting in a 4% drop in abuse reports from search and 8% fewer abuse reports from conversations.

    Through experimentation with this system, we’ve seen less abuse reports. We will continually evaluate to ensure this method is performing and we welcome your feedback.

    Read more about behavior-based signals in our blog post: https://t.co/ffwQBrgDUN

    — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) May 15, 2018

    Want to catch our next show live? Click here to subscribe or add our show to your calendar.

    AI EXPLORED

    Curious About How to Use AI?

    Our newest show, AI Explored, might be just what you're looking for. It's for marketers, creators, and entrepreneurs who want to understand how to use AI in their business.

    It's hosted by Michael Stelzner and explores this exciting new frontier in easy-to-understand terms.

    Pull up your favorite podcast app and search for AI Explored. Or click the button below for more information.

    I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AI

    Tags: News, Social Media Marketing Talk Show

    About the authorGrace Duffy

    Grace Duffy, serves on the Editorial Staff at Social Media Examiner as News Producer. She is a social media strategist, marketer and content creator with a passion for connecting people through technology.
    Other posts by Grace Duffy »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (43 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    AI

    Next Frontier Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Discover how marketers plan to change their social activities in the 17th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. It reveals what marketers have planned for their social activities, content marketing, and more! Get this free report now and never miss another great article from us. Join more than 385,000 marketers!

    Simply click the button below to get the free report:

    Footer

    Your Guide to the Marketing Jungle
    Copyright © 2025 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our social media marketing industry report
    • Our generative AI marketing industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS