Facebook support hell in one image

October 08, 2021

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Hello, Geeks!

First up this week… ‘David’ regrets contacting Facebook support in under 30 seconds.

Spare a thought for poor ‘Henry’. Rumour: He’s still waiting for Facebook Support to reply.

🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

  1. Instagram is killing IGTV (sort of) [LINK]

  2. UK regulator reveals new rules for TikTok, Snapchat, and others [LINK]

  3. Snapchat is handing out cash to creators (again) [LINK]

  4. Twitter will now help you avoid intense conversations [LINK]

  5. Facebook‘s got a big problem attracting younger users [LINK]

When Facebook goes down, I will often have friends and family message me saying “you must have had a tough day” or words to that effect. Personally, I love it. It always brought out the best in my work as a social media manager. All bets are off, and the rulebook sort of gets pushed to one side. I get the sense many social media managers feel the same way judging by the fun brands had on Twitter this week.

Here are a few few things I enjoyed reading as I hopped around the interwebs this week…Facebook PR guy is a dick (some people say)... Snapchat was one of the bigger winners during the Facebook outage…The BBC disciplined four staff members for breaking its new super-strict social media guidelines...Donald Trump is desperate to get his Twitter account back...And my Twitter account gained nearly 10,000 followers in under 12 hours. I finally figured out what was going on here and here.

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Access a library of 300+ tools to help creators create, monetise, grow & more [LINK]

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You might notice I'm trying a new layout for the newsletter this week. Hopefully you'll find it easier to take in all the news and updates from all the different platforms. I want your feedback on the structure of the newsletter! Drop me a DM or reply to this email to let me know what you think.

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WORTH A LOOK…

😮 WTF: Daily Mail turned a guy’s tweets into a column without permission [LINK]

🗣 RESEARCH: LinkedIn ‘Thought Leaders’ mostly talk bulls**t [LINK]

💀 MEMES: A round-up of the best Facebook outage tweets + memes [LINK]

✨ EMOJIS: Why use of the sparkle emoji is rocketing in 2021 [LINK]

🤔 TIL: How DownDetector became the goto tool to check if Facebook is down [LINK]

Enough with the fun stuff… Let’s dig in to the stories making the most headlines this week 👇

— Matt

P.S. Join me later for your weekly Geekout Debrief on Twitter Spaces at 4PM (UK) today (Fri 8 Oct)

We will discuss all the week’s BIG social media hot topics, breaking news, new features, and more. [Get a Reminder]

Prepare your brand for the social shopping revolution! Emplifi’s FREE virtual event on October 14 will dive into everything you need to know about the latest big shift in social media.. REGISTER TODAY

🚨 Everyone's talking about...

We're used to Facebook going down briefly from time to time, but Monday's outage was something altogether more serious.

As we later found out, a simple mistake in a configuration update led to a catastrophe where the internet couldn't find Facebook's services, and Facebook couldn't fix the problem. Because the company uses its own services to run its business, employees struggled to do things as simple as get into their office buildings to deal with the crisis.

But while Facebook staff will have had an incredibly stressful day, there were some winners from the mess. Brands piled on to grab some attention. And Twitter had a cheeky dig which proved popular, although it backfired when a flood of new users led it to have a few technical problems of its own.

Other winners included Signal, which got "millions" of new users, while Telegram says it added 70m users, and Snapchat usage was up 23% on Android. News sites' traffic went up, there were plenty of memes, and even Google+ kind of made a comeback.

Along with the other crisis facing the company this week (see below), the outage caused Facebook's stock price to drop, leading Mark Zuckerberg's personal net worth to plunge by billions (don't worry, he'll be fine).

While for some users the downtime was a welcome break from push notifications and group chats, parts of the world that use WhatsApp as their core communications infrastructure struggled to get basic things done. The New York Times described it as "a planetary-scale demonstration of how essential the company’s services have become to daily life".

This was the week the 'Facebook Files' whistleblower went public. And it's fair to say she played it incredibly well.

If you missed Frances Haugen's testimony to congress, Protocol has a good summary above. Supported by a non-profit organisation called Whistleblower Aid, Haugen's campaign to push for change at Facebook also included a big US TV interview, a specially-created Twitter account and plans to give evidence in the UK soon.

Facebook's response to the most high-profile example of a former staffer speaking out against the company focused on trying to discredit her rather than responding to her allegations. The approach was branded "cowardly" by The Verge, with others questioning whether the aggressive tactics of the company's Andy Stone were counterproductive.

When Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence to address the situation, he claimed Haugen misrepresented the company, but failed to provide any details to back himself up.

The problem for Facebook is it's reached a point where it almost doesn't matter how accurate Haugen's testimony was. Politicians and the media largely don't trust Facebook's word. It's surely not a coincidence that the company's first major metaverse play, Horizon, this week dropped 'Facebook' from its name to become 'Horizon Worlds'.

Facebook's communications strategy has a big part to play in this outcome, and it could result in the company facing regulation it's really not happy with... and not just in America.

If you thought Facebook had a bad week of technical difficulties, a similar configuration change over at Twitch appears to have been at the root of an enormous leak of... pretty much the whole company's main assets.

Hackers gained access to the Amazon-owned company's source code, but that wasn't all as Engadget explained:

On top of of the Twitch.tv code, the attackers said they stole the the site's mobile, desktop and console Twitch clients. It also accessed "proprietary SDKs and internal AWS services used by Twitch," other properties like IGDB and CurseForge, an unreleased Steam competitor from Amazon Game Studios (code-named Vapour) and Twitch SOC internal red-teaming tools. It also shows creator payouts from 2019 until now, including top streamers like Nickmercs, TimTheTatMan and xQc .

A link to download the data was posted to 4chan, and Twitch confirmed it was legitimate. Platformer reported that Twitch had lax security procedures, making an incident like this more likely.

The outcome? Embarrassed creators, hackers gleefully perusing Twitch's code for holes to exploit... and the team at Twitch desperately trying to put their crown jewels back together.

The whole shameful episode is a reminder that anything you put on a social platform can be a simple mistake away from leaking. Be careful out there.

⚡ Breaking news

This news just in...

❓ Question of the week

It’s Groundhog Day! Again!

What would you do? 👇

📩 In the DMs

You won't believe the things people send me...

There were some incredible stats for Twitter during the Facebook outage, it seems...

🔵 Facebook news

All the latest from Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp:

Top story:

The IGTV brand is no more. Instead, the format will be combined with feed videos as Instagram Video, with a dedicated Video tab.

  • Facebook is once again trying to get the FTC's case against it dismissed by the court. [CNBC]

  • A new tool has emerged that can unlink an Oculus Quest 2 from the need for a Facebook account. [Android Central]

  • A developer says Facebook banned him for building a tool that helps people reduce their usage of the platform. [Slate]

  • Facebook has shared an update on the tech it's developing to increase internet connectivity around the world, including subsea cables, robots, and more. [Tech@Facebook]

  • Facebook has announced a $350,000 Community Awards Program ahead of its 2021 Communities Summit. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

  • Facebook is testing a Chat Heads feature on iOS. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is testing a prompt to encourage sharing of posts to multiple groups. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is making it easier to share Stories as a feed post. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook is testing the ability to share to multiple groups at once. [Social Media Today]

  • Facebook's Business Suite app has a new section called "Business Feed'. [@newinsocial]

  • Facebook Gaming streamers can now co-stream with fellow creators. [Facebook Gaming]

  • Facebook is marking World Mental Health Day with new assistance and resources. [Social Media Today]

  • Instagram is getting closer to launching likes for Stories. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram has been spotted arranging Reels on a profile by number of views rather than posting date. [@NewInSocial]

  • WhatsApp is nearly ready to bring its disappearing messages and redesigned chat bubbles to iOS. [9to5Mac]

  • WhatsApp has started rolling out end-to-end encrypted backups for iOS beta testers. [9to5Mac]

  • WhatsApp is working on a way to listen to voice messages wherever you are in the app. [WABetaInfo]

🐣 Twitter news

Top story:

We knew Twitter planned to incorporate the Scroll adblocker it acquired earlier this year into its subscription offering, and now we know that will happen by early November. As yet, there's no word if Blue will expand to new markets at the same time.

  • Twitter has invested in a startup called Facemoji, which is focused on avatars. [TechCrunch]

  • Twitter has partnered with Emerge Esports in an effort to boost its footprint in the gaming world. [The Drum]

  • Donald Trump is desperate to get his Twitter account back and has asked a court to intervene. [The Guardian]

  • Twitter wants your nominations for the best brand tweets of 2021. [Social Media Today]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

  • Twitter has updated its Christmas marketing mini-site to help you plan seasonal campaigns this year. [Social Media Today]

New features and tests:

  • Twitter could soon let Twitter Blue subscribers customise which tabs to show and hide. [@alex193a]

  • Twitter has made it easier to invite people to Communities. [@regandc]

  • Twitter is working on new Community rules management tools. [@alex193a]

  • And Twitter Community admins should soon be able to remove members. [@alex193a]

  • Topic tagging is now live on Twitter Spaces. [@MattNavarra]

  • Twitter is developing polls for Communities. [@alex193a]

  • Twitter has removed the option to invite guests for live video, allowing it to improve video broadcast quality. [@TwitterSupport]

🔺 TikTok news

Top story:

TikTok’s European turnover was up 545% last year, to $170.8 million - but its losses are also up as it invests in growth.

  • TikTok has launched new resources to help young people understand the platform's advertising products. [TikTok newsroom]

  • TikTok has announced a new Creative Fund in Ireland to help community organisations. [TikTok newsroom]

Insights to give you an edge at work:

  • TikTok has six new marketing partners who can help campaigns do more with the power of music on the platform. [Tiktok newsroom]

New features and tests:

  • Recent LG TVs are getting a TikTok app. [The Verge]

  • TikTok is marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a range of activities. [TikTok newsroom]

💥 More social media news and updates

Top story:

RIP YouTube Rewind. The annual recap video—increasingly controversial among creators—has been canned for good.

  • YouTube is hiring its first ever podcast exec. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • YouTube has removed R. Kelly's official channels following his recent criminal convictions. [Engadget]

  • YouTube contributed $20.5bn to US GDP last year, according to a study commissioned... by YouTube. [TubeFilter]

  • YouTube will no longer monetise climate change denial content. [9to5Google]

  • Snapchat is taking action to curb illegal drug sales on its platform. [TechCrunch]

  • A former England footballer has called for new laws to make social media firms tackle racism. [The Guardian]

  • Clubhouse is among the companies set to sign up to an enhanced disinformation code in the EU. [TechCrunch]

  • UK communications regulator Ofcom warned platforms like TikTok, Snapchat, and OnlyFans to ask the age of users and take down harmful, illegal content under rules introduced last year. [Financial Times $$$]

  • Social media companies have removed less reported hate speech this year than last, according to an EU report. [Politico]

New features and tests:

  • YouTube now lets you continue watching videos from your phone on desktop PC. [9to5Google]

  • YouTube is making its ads on connected TVs more 'shoppable'. [TechCrunch]

  • YouTube has rolled out automatic livestream captions to all users. [The Verge]

  • Snapchat has launched Challenges with cash prizes for Spotlight creators. [The Verge]

  • Snapchat has a new 'Run for Office' feature to help young Americans get leadership positions in their community. [NBC News]

  • LinkedIn company page admins now let users see hashtags associated with their company and content posted by employees. [@YasserM86]

  • Pinterest has launched new ad products focused on shopping. [Reuters $$$]

  • Pinterest has released 'Havens' to help users avoid burnout as a way of marking World Mental Health Day. [Social Media Today]

  • Twitch is testing the ability for viewers to pay to promote a stream on the platform's front page. [The Verge]

  • Reddit community moderators can now enable comments, and votes on older posts. [Adweek $$$]

  • Discord has removed its Stage Discovery portal because it attracted random, indifferent audiences to otherwise successful Stage Channels. [Engadget]

  • Tinder is launching its own in-app currency. [Bloomberg $$$]

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🌟 New feature of the week

Posting from desktop but the image is on your phone? Facebook has a handy solution...

💬 You can quote me on that

When I'm quoted in the media, you'll read about it here...

I spoke to Vogue Business about how the role of a social media manager has evolved in the past 10 years.

📈 Chart of the week

New research by the Verge shows just how stark the trust problem is for social media companies.

🤔 Thought for the week

Magazines may be old fashioned these days, but their covers can still capture the mood of the moment better than other media...

📖 Weekend reading

"Digital 'humans' are pushing the boundaries of possibility in the influencer scene."

💀 Meme of the week

📅 Back next week...

...And that’s a wrap!

Geekout newsletter: DONE ✅

Right… Time for me to finally go watch Squid Games on Netflix. It better be epic, given all the hype by pretty much everyone I know!

Goodbye, geeks!

— Matt

😮 Get MORE Geekout

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This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.

Copyright 2021: Matt Navarra Media Ltd

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