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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 with Michael Stelzner, we explore Facebook Watch, Instagram Stories for the desktop and Instagram Galleries updates with Sue B. Zimmerman, and more breaking social media marketing news of the week!
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For this week’s top stories, you’ll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the replay above.
Facebook Watch Tab Spotted on Profiles on Mobile and Desktop: The new Facebook Watch tab has been spotted as an option on the left sidebar on select profiles in the U.S. The tab is located in a prominent location just under the News Feed and Messenger buttons on the main desktop navigation menu. Facebook Watch is possibly rolling out to more users in the coming days, as Facebook also continues to offer a new slate of funded shows for the platform. Facebook introduced the new Watch platform earlier this month “to a limited group of people in the US” on desktop and mobile and plans to bring the experience to more people “soon.” (6:10)
Instagram Stories Coming to the Desktop and Mobile Web: Instagram is starting to roll out the ability to view Stories on desktop. Additionally, a future rollout will allow users to create and post Stories from Instagram.com via the mobile web. (23:14)
Instagram Stories are coming to the web https://t.co/ANV3zUNe3J by @sarahintampa
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) August 31, 2017
Instagram Galleries Can Now Include Both Landscape and Portrait Images in Single Posts: Instagram announced that users can now include both landscape and portrait photos when sharing multiple photos and videos in one post. TechCrunch reports that this new capability is currently rolling out to all Instagram users. (27:36)
Starting today, you can choose landscape and portrait formats when sharing multiple photos and videos in one post. pic.twitter.com/Lg1wiuRzxT
— Instagram (@instagram) August 29, 2017
Facebook Allows Page Admins to Control Messenger Pop-Up Chat Prompts: In July, select Facebook page admins spotted a new Messenger chat feature that automatically popped up when visitors accessed their pages. At the time, there was no way to manage this setting. It was simply triggered during the hours when a page is “active for chat” and offered a quick way to engage with a business or brand. This week, the option to activate or turn off this feature was spotted in Facebook’s page settings. Admins now have the option to prompt visitors to “start a conversation” with the page via Messenger when it’s online or if it tends to be “very responsive to messages.” This new permission can be found in the Messenger Settings menu under General Settings. (36:09)
Facebook Now Suggests Stories From Related Pages to Share in Groups: An image provided to Social Media Examiner shows that Facebook now prompts group admins to “get a conversation started” by sharing selected page posts to their groups. The related stories appear to be videos that can only be seen by the group admin until they’re shared in the group. (40:43)
Facebook Adds New Top Live Videos Tab on Mobile: A new Top Live Videos on Facebook section has been spotted on iOS and Android devices. This new feature appears on the video tab and shows which Facebook Live videos in your language currently have the most viewers. (43:19)
Facebook Announces New Ways to Enjoy Memories and Milestones With Friends: Facebook added two new ways for users to “relive meaningful memories and celebrate special moments on Facebook.” These new features include a new experience that bundles your monthly or seasonal memories “in a delightful way for you to enjoy and share” on the news feed and the gradual rollout of more celebratory messages that highlight achievements like reaching a notable number of “friends on Facebook” or “when your friends have liked your posts.” Facebook is also rolling out improved controls to its On This Day feature and making it available to all users.
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YouTube Rolls Out New Features to the Mobile App and Releases Redesigned Logo and Desktop Site: YouTube rolled out several new features to its mobile app and a “refreshed” YouTube logo and YouTube icon that’s cleaner, more flexible, and better designed for a multiscreen world. YouTube also announced that the desktop redesign introduced this past May is now available to all users around the globe.
Facebook Removes Uncommon Boosted Post Options: Facebook is retiring a full list of boosted post options that “are rarely used and, more importantly, are not closely tied to advertiser objectives.” Facebook notes that this update allows it to “improve and expand [its] most effective ad products” and “help advertisers identify solutions to help them reach their goals.”
Giphy Adds View Counts: Giphy rolled out view counts for every GIF from an official artist or partner including Disney, MTV, HBO, the NBA, and many more. Giphy will also feature how many GIFs are available and the cumulative GIF view count on an official artist or partner’s official channel. At this time, the platform will only take a view into account if a GIF is viewed on Giphy.com or through one of its distribution networks such as Facebook, Twitter, iMessage, or WhatsApp.
Google Launches Early Preview of ARCore: Google released an early preview of ARCore, a new software development kit for building augmented reality apps for Android phones. Developers can start experimenting with this new platform now.
Facebook Blocks Ads From Pages Sharing Fake News: Facebook announced that pages repeatedly sharing stories marked as false will no longer be eligible to buy ads on Facebook. This new policy is an extension of Facebook’s existing policy of banning advertisers from running ads that link to stories marked false by third-party fact-checking organizations and aims to reduce the distribution of false news on the platform. Facebook notes that the ban isn’t permanent. If pages stop sharing false news, they may be eligible to start running ads again.
Instagram Bug Leaked Data on “High-Profile” Users: Instagram reported that a bug found in its API exposed the contact phone numbers and email addresses of high-profile users. Instagram notified all verified users of this issue in an email, saying that the bug has been fixed and that the security team is investigating further. Instagram recommended setting up two-factor authentication for profiles. TechCrunch notes that “no other personal information, like passwords or what have you, seems to have been exposed.”
Instagram bug leaked data on ‘high-profile’ users, company warns https://t.co/lQ6Pe3bWOA
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) August 31, 2017
WhatsApp Tests Verified Badges to Select Business Accounts: WhatsApp is testing verified business accounts to select contacts. A green badge next to the account name confirms that the phone number of this contact belongs to a business account. WhatsApp announced that business verification is currently limited to a small number of businesses participating in a pilot program.
WhatsApp now adds verified badges to select business accounts https://t.co/06rduXF3ll
— The Verge (@verge) August 29, 2017
Google Assistant Will Work on More Gadgets This Year: Google announced that it’s allowing more third-party hardware makers to bake its AI-powered Assistant into their gadgets and home appliances. According to Google, consumers should expect to hear about a number of new products that either have the Assistant built in (you can talk to them) or that work with the Assistant (you can control them with the Google Assistant) over “the next few days.”
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