Geekout Newsletter #2 - Facebook to advertisers: Zuck on this 🖕

July 03, 2020

Welcome back, geeks!

Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who tweeted or messaged me about last week's launch edition of the Geekout Newsletter.

It was awesome to read so many great comments about how useful and/or enjoyable you found the newsletter. It was also exciting seeing so many of you subscribe! We've hit over 2,500 subscribers already! ❤️

As I mentioned last week, my aim is to make this your weekly 'go-to' source for ALL the latest social media news, updates, new features, tips, tricks, and handy new tools for social media managers. No more hopping around the web to stay on top of the latest developments, just one geeky newsletter that brings you up to speed each week. Job done ✅

  • If you want to share your feedback, DM me on Twitter.

  • To dig into all the stories below and more, join the BEST community of social media managers on Facebook: The Social Media Geekout.

...So, on with the news...📰

Let's do this! 🤓👇

— Matt

🚨 Everyone's talking about...

The Facebook ad boycott for the month of July has begun, with more than 400 brands taking part. Even influencer campaigns are being affected. Many campaigners do not believe the announcements Facebook made on Friday last week to tackle hate speech went far enough. “It’s a major wake-up call for Facebook. I think they’ll rally to the challenge. If they don’t, we’ll visit them soon in the graveyard of dinosaurs,” Unilever's former CEO reckons.

In response to the pressure, the company's comms chief Nick Clegg has written a post insisting that "Facebook does not benefit from hate." But it seems Mark Zuckerberg sees this boycott as just a minor blip. The Information [$$$] reports he told employees "my guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough.” It's a fair point that the boycott probably hasn't had a huge impact on the company financially: CNN reports that most of the top 100 big ad spenders on Facebook haven't joined in.

It seems the Facebook boycott has nudged other platforms to start cleaning up their own hate speech problems. Reddit this week closed around 2,000 subreddits for spreading hate speech, including the notorious r/The_Donald, which was home to some of Donald Trump's most enthusiastic fans — who repeatedly broke Reddit's rules. They already have a new home, away from Reddit.

Meanwhile, Twitch temporarily suspended Trump's streaming account for "hateful conduct." Twitch is owned by Amazon, so Trump's already poor opinion of Jeff Bezos isn't going to improve any time soon.

It seems now the ball is rolling, it's much easier (and less scary) to take-on President Trump. The question now is how much further will the major social networks go to curtail Trump's rants and unpopular rhetoric, and what more will Trump do to fight back?

I'm guessing Trump will let us know in BLOCK CAPITAL tweets soon enough 🙄

The marketing experts at Khoros wrote these guides to help enterprise marketers understand how to stand out in an environment of sameness, drive consumer engagement, and increase leads, conversions, and sales. These are full-funnel resources, and marketers can benefit from the essential strategies at any stage of the process.

👀 ICYMI...

Stories you need to know about:

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp:

  • Facebook is tweaking its News Feed algorithm to prioritise original reporting. Stories without a byline will be downranked. I assume that won't include the many reports from outlets like BBC News that have no byline. [Axios]

  • Facebook is shutting down Lasso, its TikTok-like app that overlapped with Instagram's Reels. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook is also shutting down Hobbi, a Pinterest-style app that was reportedly downloaded less than 10,000 times in the US. [TechCrunch]

  • Leaked documents show how Facebook has bent its rules to accommodate its conservative critics over the past few years [Washington Post $$$]

  • Facebook widgets can be considered wiretaps, a US appeal court has ruled. [Gizmodo]

  • Facebook has expanded its creator subscription platform. Now any creator with 10,000 followers or more than 250 return viewers, and either 50,000 post engagements or 180,000 watch minutes in the last 60 days in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States can charge their fans $4.99 per month. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook researchers have revealed an early version of new, thin and light VR glasses with holographic optics. [Road to VR]

Twitter:

  • Twitter has apologised for mislabelling some tweets as containing misleading information about Covid-19 and 5G. [@TwitterSupport]

  • Twitter's developers are changing the language they use to be more inclusive. [@TwitterEngineering]

TikTok:

  • TikTok has been banned in India as part of a crackdown on Chinese apps, as tensions between the neighbouring countries increase. Wechat is among the other apps banned. [BBC News]

  • But TikTok's new CEO has written to Indian officials vowing the app is not a tool for data collection by the Chinese state. [Wall Street Journal $$$]

  • TikTok now has more than 1,000 employees in Europe, with more than 800 of them in the UK and Ireland [TikTok newsroom]

  • Security measures on TikTok can be “easily circumvented” to create fake accounts, researchers say. [The Information $$$]

And the rest:

  • The drumbeat for tougher regulation of tech platforms in the UK is getting louder. The competition regulator wants new laws, as does a UK House of Lords committee.

  • LinkedIn content creation is booming, having increased by 60% in the past year. [Social Samosa]

  • Discord is shifting away from focusing mainly on gaming, to becoming more like a 'Slack for non-work communities,' to coincide with a new $100m funding round. [Engadget]

  • Bill Gates partly blames Facebook and Twitter for America's particularly bad Covid-19 problems. [Fox News]

  • Influencers have launched their own trade association. The American Influencers Association wants to build up some political clout. [Gizmodo Australia]

  • Ultra-exclusive audio chat app Clubhouse is at the centre of a dispute between tech investors and journalists. [Vice]

  • A viral stunt got lots of people talking about a fake new social app called 👁👄👁... all to raise money for Black Lives Matter, but not everyone thought it was in good taste. [Wired]

🌟Tip of the week

I asked my Twitter followers to tell me the most useful pro-tips for social media managers. They didn't let me down.

Click through to the tweet below and read the replies. Lots of smart advice! 👇

🔨 Tool of the week

I love this simple little iOS app which I use to quickly and easily download GIFs or videos in tweets on to my iPhone. Very handy!

📲 Quick hits

Updates, experiments, and useful info snippets:

  • Facebook has published a guide to the News Feed for news publishers. [Facebook Journalism Project]

  • Facebook seems to be letting some users edit the destination URL of an existing post. Have you seen this feature on your posts? [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook has begun rolling out dark mode to some users on iOS. [9to5Mac]

  • Facebook has added a 'Shopping' option to custom audiences on Facebook Ads, so you can target people who have shown interest in your Facebook or Instagram shop. [Social Media Today]

  • Badges are now available in all Facebook Groups. You can see all the badges available to your group and choose which badges you’d like to enable by visiting your group’s settings. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook has added links to some of its other offerings to its iOS app. [@MattNavarra]

  • Facebook will pin voter registration information to the top of the News Feed in the US [The Verge]

  • Facebook and Instagram will tell all US users to use face coverings due to Covid-19. [@MattNavarra]

  • Instagram is testing a a full-screen Stories browsing option. This may be a bit too much for even the biggest Stories fan! [Social Media Today]. And Facebook is testing it too. [@MattNavarra]

  • WhatsApp has officially announced a bunch of new features. QR codes for sharing contact details, animated stickers, and tweaks to group videos calls are all on the way. Dark mode is now available on the web. [The Verge]

  • Twitter has released version 7 of its Media Studio. Features include scheduling broadcasts, and private streaming. [@adzflowers]

  • Twitter is working on a way for users to collaborate on 'Fleets,' its Stories-like feature that is currently only available in four countries. [Social Media Today]

  • Twitter is experimenting with a thirsty pop-up prompt to follow a user when you visit their profile. [@MattNavarra]

  • Twitter will now direct users to Women's Aid resources when they tweet words related to domestic abuse. [@TwitterUK]

  • YouTube has added SmartReply to Studio, so creators can quickly reply to comments. [9to5Google]

  • YouTube is working on an improved analytics display for creators. [Social Media Today]

  • YouTube is experimenting with a language selector in voice search. [Android Police]

  • LinkedIn now lets you record a sound clip so people know how to pronounce your name. [@MattNavarra]

  • LinkedIn has launched new features to help you find work or help others. [LinkedIn blog]

  • LinkedIn now gives Page admins 100 'credits' per month to invite connections to follow the Page. A simple way to limit spammy use of the invite connections feature. [@MattNavarra]

  • LinkedIn has brought back the 'Write Article' button for status updates. [@adzflowers]

  • LinkedIn Stories has expanded to France with more countries promised soon. [@adhutchinson]

  • LinkedIn is testing new Facebook-like buttons in the post composer. [@MattNavarra]

  • TikTok has new customisation options for video covers, offering new branding possibilities. [@DevMachette_]

  • TikTok has licensed Prince's music so you can party like it's 1999 over and over again on a loop. [TikTok newsroom]

  • Pinterest is testing a new advertising model in collaboration with publishers. [Digiday]

  • Spotify is testing the ability to share 'quotes' from podcasts. [@wongmjane]

  • Google is offering training to podcast makers who want to “take their productions to the next level.” [9to5Google]

  • Waze has a new web page where you can sign up as a beta tester. [Google Sites]

📖 Weekend reading

Journalists share some of Facebook's tactics for dealing with the media. It rings true to what I've heard, too.

😳 And finally....

📅 Back next week

Want to get in touch with me? Ping me anytime in a DM on Twitter: @MattNavarra.

Don't forget to join The Social Media Geekout on Facebook where me and 16,000+ other social media pros hangout 😎

For now... Goodbye geeks! ❤️

Matt

This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.

Copyright 2020: Matt Navarra Media Ltd

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