This Facebook policy has got me worried

March 26, 2021

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Hello, geeks!

So... It turns out Facebook thinks it would be okay for people to wish for my death.

Thanks for that, Facebook!

Moving swiftly on...

DID YOU SEE…

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Twitter has been spotted asking users for their thoughts about adding emoji reactions to tweets. Sometimes the ‘Like’ button doesn’t allow for a more nuanced response to a tweet.

This feature would address that by potentially adding a emoji reactions such as ❤️ [love] 😢 [sad] 👍 [like/agree] 👎 [dislike/disagree] 🔥 [awesome] 😡 [angry] etc. I like the idea of having more ways to express my views on a tweet, but less favourable reactions could negatively impact people’s future tweeting behaviour e.g. If your tweets are frequently ‘disliked’.

What do you think? Twitter emoji reactions 👍👎 Reply to this tweet.

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Before we jump into this week’s BIG news stories, here are a few more things that got my attention:

ICYMI

Ok… Let’s take a look at this week’s social media hot topics and talking points in a bit more detail.

*pours another coffee* ☕️

— Matt

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🚨 Everyone's talking about...

These political grillings seem to becoming more and more frequent, and achieve less and less each time.

For those of us who follow social media closely, it's fun to watch the heads of the big platforms square off against politicians, but it's largely just the two sides talking across each other.

And while there really is a misinformation problem that Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai need to be held to account for, a forum where they're spoken to like naughty children for several hours just isn't it.

Repeatedly, senators demanded yes-or-no answers to complex questions. Often these were designed to lead the CEOs into a trap of creating a damning soundbite the politicians could use to show how tough they are, but the CEOs weren't going to play ball.

This meant we got often useful questions presented in a way that meant the CEOs couldn't answer meaningfully without getting told off for not answering in the 'correct' format. No wonder Jack Dorsey tweeted a cheeky poll and liked a bunch of tweets about his novelty blockchain clock. It was probably a more productive use of his time.

We did get some news snippets of value, like Zuck saying that Facebook is studying the mental health of children who use its products, but politicians are only going to have a meaningful dialogue with big tech CEOs if they drop the theatrics and dig into the serious issues with well-researched questions from a handful of serious, knowledgeable senators.

This week we got to know more detail about Facebook's secretive moderation rules, thanks to leaked documents seen by the Guardian. Some of the eyebrow-raising rules include it being okay to call for the death of a public figure (as you don't tag them), and to praise mass murderers and “violent non-state actors” in certain situations.

Some of these rules exist so Facebook can operate in repressive regimes (there's the company's 'growth over morals' problem yet again). But the fact some clearly wrong things are allowed in particular situations points to how moderating the speech of billions of people is a complicated business.

If Facebook's rules were simpler, would it make more poor moderation decisions because too many nuanced decisions were being made with a blunt instrument?

But the fact the world is complex shouldn't let Facebook off the hook. Maybe it needs to rebuild its rules from scratch, starting with a clear moral framework for the company. Yeah, I won't hold my breath,

David Dobrik's past week shows how quickly an influencer's empire can collapse. Serious criminal allegations against a former participant in his videos led to him being dropped by brands like Hello Fresh, Dollar Shave Club, and EA Sports. YouTube has now demonetised his videos.

And he had to step aside from Dispo, after a key investor severed ties with the startup weeks after pumping millions of dollars into it.

This is all a far cry from the big-money deals he had on the back of his 18 million YouTube subscribers just days ago.

Even 'edgy' influencers need to keep their reputations clean, or all the apology videos in the world won't save their careers.

👀 ICYMI...

Stories you need to know about:

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp:

You don't have to be an expert with numbers to know that this is a LOT of fake accounts. Facebook also says it has more than 35,000 people working on tackling misinformation on its platform.

  • Facebook could face an antitrust investigation in the UK over its market dominance and use of data about competitors to boost its own products. [Financial Times $$$]

  • Facebook is being sued in France over claims it violates its own terms of service by failing to provide a "safe" environment for users. [CNN]

  • Facebook acquiring Giphy could harm competition in the UK advertising market, the country's competition regulator has said. It is now awaiting responses from the two companies. [CNBC]

  • Facebook is one of America's biggest spenders on lobbying, alongside Amazon. [Insider]

  • Facebook is bringing its developer conference back. F8 2021 will be a one-day, online-only event without a Mark Zuckerberg keynote. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook apps are used in over half of online child sex crimes, according to the NSPCC charity. [The Independent]

  • Influencers are launching 'pay to follow' private Instagram accounts. [BuzzFeed News]

  • The Indian government wants to block WhatsApp's new terms of service in the country, claiming they're illegal. [TechCrunch]

  • NBC Universal has announced an e-commerce partnership with Facebook and Instagram. [AdAge $$$]

  • The New York Times' cooking Facebook Group was reportedly a moderation mess before the company ditched it last week. [Motherboard]

  • Facebook and Instagram's fundraising tools have been used to raise a total of $5bn for nonprofits and personal causes. [Facebook Newsroom]

Twitter:

The CEO of a blockchain tech company was the winning bidder. Jack said he'd donate the proceeds to an organisation tackling poverty in Africa. The buyer has defended the pricey purchase.

  • Twitter will set up a Turkish entity, complying with a law that some have said allows for widespread censorship by the government. [The Verge]

  • Twitter has acquired a startup called Reshuffle to bolster its API offerings. [TechCrunch]

TikTok:

TikTok's code does not threaten US national security, according to a University of Toronto study. [$$$]

And the rest:

Could Microsoft snap up Discord for its Xbox gaming division? After reports from VentureBeat and Bloomberg earlier in the week pointing in that direction, the Wall Street Journal now says a deal could be done "next month." The deal is said to be worth more than $10 billion. [$$$]

  • Donald Trump could partner with existing, little-known apps for the new social network he's planning. [Axios]

  • Clubhouse's Android launch is still a couple of months away, the startup's co-founder says. [TechCrunch]

  • Chrissy Teigen has quit Twitter. One of the most 'Twitter-native' American celebrities, she suffered frequent abuse on the platform. [Mashable]

  • Reddit cut ties with an employee after hundreds of subreddits locked themselves down in protest against the controversial former UK political activist working for the company. [The Verge]

  • Fake news may spread less if social media users are asked to rate the news they see, research suggests. [The Register]

  • Honesty is the future of dating, according to Tinder. [Mashable]

  • Court sessions held over Zoom are going viral, and not everyone is keen on the trend. [Motherboard]

❓ Question of the week

What are the must-have or lesser-known tools every social media manager needs to know about?

Here’s a useful thread full of awesome suggestions, including a few I never knew about.

Sharing is caring… Add your own top tool recommendations. 👇

🔨 Tool of the week

This time-saving Chrome extension uses A.I to auto-summarise any webpage, article, or PDF into bite-size bullet points in one-click. Clever!

🐣 Tweet of the week

After being asked too many simplistic yes/no questions, Jack Dorsey subtweeted U.S Congress… DURING the hearing! 😆

🔍 Insights

Social media data, insights and reports to give you an edge at work:

  • Facebook is continuing its 'Social Skills' business tips video series. [Social Media Today]

  • Why agencies are hiring Clubhouse managers [Digiday $$$]

  • What brands can learn from YouTube star David Dobrik's fall from grace. [AdAge $$$]

  • How TikTok is changing healthcare marketing. [Campaign $$$]

  • What brands can learn from the Cinnamon Toast Crunch shrimp moment. [AdAge $$$]

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📲 Quick hits

Updates, experiments, and useful info snippets:

  • Facebook is testing a green screen feature for Stories. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook's Clubhouse-like feature is taking shape. It appears you'll have the choice between public rooms for anyone on Facebook to listen to, and private rooms. [Social Media Today]

  • And the look of Facebook audio rooms when they're playing in the background of the app has been uncovered. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook's Rights Manager tool lets creators collect earnings on their copyrighted content when it is published by other pages. [Adweek $$$]

  • Facebook has added sort and filter tools to help Group admins manage pending posts. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook has launched a new Analytics API for researchers studying Facebook Page data [Facebook Research]

  • Facebook appears to be working on some kind of 'threads' feature. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook may soon let you pin posts on personal profiles. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook has added a 'change preview' button to some link previews... But it doesn't seem to work. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is asking Group admins to share what makes their group special. [@MattNavarra]

  • Instagram has marked Persian New Year with three new stickers. [Adweek $$$]

  • Instagram is testing a DM link next to every comment on a post. [@iamstake]

  • Instagram is testing stickers for quick replies in Stories. [@insta_leaks]

  • You could soon be able to add your WhatsApp to your Instagram profile. [@insta_leaks]

  • Instagram could soon have a new ‘Add’ button in Stories. [@MattNavarra]

  • Instagram appears to be testing the ability to share ‘Guides’ as feed posts. [@MattNavarra]

  • Instagram may soon let you preview an image in full-screen before sending it in Direct. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is working on the ability to like questions sent in a Live. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram could soon allow Reels of up to 60 seconds again. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is testing the ability to record a voice message with a single tap. [@insta_leaks]

  • GoDaddy has built Instagram posting into its customer dashboard. [TechRadar Pro]

  • Messenger is testing new shortcuts to shared media folders on its search tab. [@MattNavarra]

  • Twitter is considering adding Facebook-style emoji reactions to tweets. [TechCrunch]

  • Twitter could launch improved DM search features this spring. [Debugger]

  • Twitter has expanded the number of Android users who can start Spaces. [Social Media Today]

  • Twitter Spaces for the web is being developed. [@magusnn]

  • Twitter has shared ideas for new account safety tools. [Social Media Today]

  • Twitter's Birdwatch crowdsourced information-rating tool has a new 'needs your help' section to highlight tweets that users may be able to assist with assessing. [@birdwatch]

  • YouTube is testing a feature in the US that displays videos related to products its A.I. detects are present in the video you're watching. [9to5Google]

  • YouTube’s outline-style icons have rolled out to the web, after previously arriving on iOS and Android. [9to5Google]

  • Snapchat is working on adding auto-captions. [@alex193a]

  • Snapchat is developing the ability to remix friends' stories. [@alex193a]

  • Crazy Run is a new game in Snapchat, the first to come from a partnership between Snap and developer Gismart. [VentureBeat]

  • Slack is getting Clubhouse style features, its CEO says. [Protocol]

  • Tinder is launching a 'gift a Lyft ride' feature in the US. [The Verge]

📖 Weekend reading

💀 Meme of the week

😳 And finally...

Who knew a road sign could be so much fun?

📅 Back next week...

Your social media addiction has now been fed.

Consider yourself fully geeked-out!

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Right you lovely lot… Time to start the weekend chez Navarra,

Goodbye, geeks!

— Matt

This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.

Copyright 2021: Matt Navarra Media Ltd

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