The secrets of a social media manager... revealed

June 18, 2021

*View this newsletter online for the best reading experience*

Hello, Geeks!

First off this week… I think you will LOVE this!

If you do, I would love your support by retweeting this tweet to help other social media managers discover it. ❤️

DID YOU SEE…

Other things that got my attention in the news this week...

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The NEWEST member of the Geekout family launched this week…

Introducing The Diary of a Social Media Manager! I will let the teaser edition tell you everything you need to know. I’m really excited to be working on this with the mystery girl behind the awesome ‘WorkInSocialTheySay’ meme account on Instagram. And a special big thanks to our launch sponsor Hootsuite who’s coming along for the ride. The first edition of the diary will be out Thursday, 1 July. [Subscribe]

ICYMI

Hope you find those links useful! Let’s jump into this week’s top news stories in the world of social media managers 👇

— Matt

P.S. 🗣 GEEKOUT on TWITTER SPACES

Join us for Geekout Weekly on Twitter Spaces today (Fri 18 June) at 4pm [UK] where we’ll be discussing ALL this week’s social media news, scandals, and top new features.

Just tap this tweet to get notified when we're about to go live!.

🚨 Everyone's talking about...

Often when Twitter announces plans for new anti-abuse features, those who suffer some of the worst abuse roll their eyes and sigh 'too little, too late'.

But there's been a real buzz around new ideas shared by Twitter privacy engineer Dominic Camozzi this week:

  • The ability to 'unmention' yourself from other people's tweets you'd rather not be featured in

  • This could include receiving alerts when someone you don't follow @mentions you

  • Blocking people from @mentioning you in tweets again if you remove yourself from one of their tweets, and the ability to proactively block specific accounts from ever mentioning you.

Scroll through the quote tweet responses to Camozzi's thread and you'll see the reaction from users is overwhelmingly positive. I'd be very surprised if Twitter didn't build these features sooner rather than later.

Twitter is often described as a 'hell site' by its heaviest users. Empowering the abused to take control against the abusers could help Twitter eventually lose that undesirable nickname.

If you thought Facebook, the famous ad company, would treat its VR arm as a simple software and hardware business, you'll have been sorely disappointed this week.

Yep, ads are coming to Oculus Quest apps. Starting with three initial titles, they will show up in three games at first. Ads will integrated into the games at hopefully relevant points (imagine billboards in a city scene in a game, displaying personalised ads). The Verge reports:

Users can click an ad and either open it or save the link for later. The former option will launch a landing page in the Oculus Quest’s web browser, and the latter will save the ad in the Quest in-VR experience and Oculus mobile app’s Explore sections. Developers will get a share of the revenue from ads in their apps, but Facebook isn’t publicly revealing the percentage.

Facebook is keen to point out that you can block specific ads and advertisers, and it's not using all the data it could to target the ads. (raw images from headset cameras, your height and weight and the like are kept private).

Facebook's Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth said on Twitter this week: "Ads in VR will be different from ads elsewhere and this is a space that will take time and people’s feedback to get right"

This move is to have been expected by anyone who knows how Facebook operates. But coupled with the news that Facebook has acquired yet another VR game developer, it has led some to worry that the company could corner the market for VR before it's properly taken off.

In truth, that's unlikely to be the case. It's true that Oculus leads the VR market right now, and there's not a lot of competition. But Sony is still in the VR game with news this week pointing to a new PlayStation VR headset coming late next year. And if there's a sniff of VR becoming a mainstream hit that every home needs to have, it's mature enough technology that plenty of companies will be able to come to market with Oculus rivals relatively quickly.

As good as Oculus might be, it can't buy up every single developer, and some of the best must-play franchises belong to the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo who will be very unlikely to want Facebook to become a games industry giant without a real fight.

We've touched on the problems with data scraping from social apps before, and now a US Supreme Court court decision has helped shape what is acceptable and what is going too far when it comes to companies using 'public' data from your social profiles.

As Social Media Today reports:

The US Supreme Court has dismissed a lower court ruling which had previously barred LinkedIn from denying recruitment software company hiQ access to information which LinkedIn members had made publicly available in its app.

The case is a precedent-setting example in the battle against data scraping. Back in 2017, LinkedIn sought to cut off hiQ Labs from its service after discovering that hiQ had been scraping LinkedIn user data - harvesting personal information on publicly available profiles of LinkedIn users - in order to build its own recruitment information service.

In other words, just because you put information about yourself for all to see on your LinkedIn profile, it doesn't mean other people can grab all that information to use in other ways (in the US, at least).

But this news could also have implications for academic and journalistic research that relies on scraping public data. Such work is important for helping us understand how social platforms—and society itself— works these days.

No doubt the courts will be faced with making a decision on non-commercial scraping soon enough. The Supreme Court has sent the decision about scraping from LinkedIn back to a lower court to decide again, so this is not over yet.

👀 ICYMI...

Stories you need to know about:

Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp:

Facebook has asked its Oversight Board to advise it on a new policy, for the first time

  • And Facebook is adding an exception for satire to its community standards, based on an Oversight Board recommendation. [Engadget]

  • ...And the Oversight Board is pushing for more influence. [Wall Street Journal $$$]

  • Facebook has launched an Independent Artist Program to help musicians distribute their music across the company's apps. [Variety]

  • Facebook publicly tested its new Clubhouse-style Audio Rooms feature this week, in a public chat between Mark Zuckerberg and other execs. [Social Media Today]

  • WhatsApp has launched a pro-privacy campaign as it looks to bounce back from the outcry over its terms of service change. [BBC News]

  • Instagram has rolled our ads in Reels across the world. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook has new A.I. that can detect where deepfakes came from. [Engadget]

  • More than 100 million people have signed up for Facebook’s Blood Donations feature, which is now available in 37 countries. [Facebook Newsroom]

  • Mark Zuckerberg has failed to make it onto Glassdoor's Top 100 CEOs list for the first time since 2013. [Adweek $$$]

Twitter:

Top executives could now be criminally liable for users breaking the law on the platform.

  • Twitter has revealed that follower counts don't include users who have been asked to confirm their password or phone number and haven't yet done so. [@TwitterSupport]

TikTok:

2020 was difficult for TikTok in the US, but overall its parent company had a GREAT year.

  • TikTok will be title sponsor this year's VidCon, after nearly a decade of YouTube taking the slot. [Variety]

And the rest:

Some big-spending advertisers now have fewer options at YouTube.

  • BuzzFeed is joining the creator cash bonanza, offering up to $10,000 for viral posts. [Fast Company]

  • ...but not everyone thinks it's a good idea. [Discourse Blog]

  • Snapchat has removed the speed filter, which some saw as encouraging dangerous driving. [NPR]

  • Chrissy Teigen has apologised for bullying people online in the past. [BBC News]

❓ Question of the week

Who deserves some real recognition in social media manager land right now? Share your favourites!

🤔 Thought for the week

Why maybe you shouldn't respond to those engagement-bait posts on Facebook 👇

Tap tweet to view full image.

🔨 Tool of the week

250+ Tools for Creators. 15+ Categories. 25+ Sub Categories. Tools for podcasters, content writers, bloggers. Twitter influencers, and more.

🌟 New feature of the week

Something you really need to try...

This is a really handy tool that automatically crops videos for you. Give it a go!

📈 Chart of the week

Your handy guide to the social audio space, via the Information. Now featuring Spotify's new offering:

🐣 Tweet of the week

I didn't know reCAPTCHA had dark mode...

🔍 Insights

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

  • How can you increase your LinkedIn company page follower count? The company has shared some tips. [Social Media Today]

  • Intrigued by Facebook's Conversions API? Here's everything you need to know. [AdEspresso]

  • Want insights into marketing opportunities and strategies on Twitter? A new official content series could help. [Social Media Today]

  • How important is it for brands to be inclusive on Snapchat? Very, it seems. [Adweek $$$]

📲 Quick hits

Updates, experiments, and useful info snippets:

  • All US merchants on Facebook can now use Shopify's Shop Pay system. [TechCrunch]

  • Facebook has introduced Stream Fan Groups for its Gaming service. [Facebook Gaming]

  • Facebook has introduced headline search in its News section. [@testingcatalog]

  • Facebook is further rolling out user participation charts for Group admins. [@testingcatalog]

  • Facebook Rights Manager access can now be directly accessed from Creator Studio. [@ahmedghanem]

  • Instagram has launched support for group fundraisers. [Engadget]

  • Instagram now lets you turn a drawing into a sticker. [@ec_wife]

  • Instagram is working on new brush colours in Stories. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is building the ability to tag products in Rooms. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram may be about to rename it’s ‘Close friends’ feature to ‘Selected followers’. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram is still working on collaborative posts. A 'collaborator' is now called a 'coauthor'. [@alex193a]

  • Instagram’s stand-alone IGTV app now has a ‘LIVE’ videos tab. [@MattNavarra]

  • Instagram is working on a new creator onboarding section for branded content. [@insta_leaks]

  • WhatsApp is working on a new Archived Chats tab on iOS. [9to5Mac]

  • WhatsApp is adding a sticker search shortcut. [WABetaInfo]

  • A new Oculus Quest update adds multitasking, mic swapping, and new wireless streaming features. [The Verge]

  • The original Oculus Quest is to get Air Link wireless streaming, like its newer sibling. [The Verge]

  • Twitter has shared some its learnings from testing the Spaces tab in its app. [@TwitterSpaces]

  • Twitter is building a search feature for the Spaces tab. [@alex193a]

  • Twitter is working on a reactions picker for its in-development emoji reactions feature. [@wongmjane]

  • Twitter has added support for the feminine form of Arabic. [Adweek $$$]

  • Screenshots of in-app TikTok Shopping have emerged. It's currently in a limited test. [@LonaPJ]

  • TikTok has added a small Euro 2020 banner for some users, helping them find updates on the delayed football tournament. [TestingCatalog]

  • TikTok has launched a #CreativityForGood campaign in partnership with Cannes Lions. [Social Media Today]

  • YouTube has introduced new controls to help creators decide how others can use their videos in Shorts. Shorts analytics are being tested in the main app, too. [Social Media Today]

  • Snapchat will let third-party apps post content to the TikTok-like Spotlight feature. [The Verge]

  • Snapchat has launched its first original creator shows in India. [TechRadar]

  • Snapchat is honouring Black footballers via statues in AR. [The Drum]

  • Snapchat is working on reactions you'd be able to add to chat messages. [@alex193a]

  • Snapchat is developing the ability to share your live location with friends. [@alex193a]

  • Clubhouse is expanding its Creator First programme to India [Social Media Today]

  • Pinterest has launched a 'virtual test drive' ad experience for the Volkswagen ID.4. [Social Media Today]

  • Telegram's latest Android beta has added video and screen sharing in groups. [Android Police]

📖 Weekend reading

"Twitter strikes fear into the heart of millions. But how much real power does it have?"

💀 Meme of the week

📅 Back next week...

...And that’s a wrap!

It’s crazy just how much new stuff gets launched, tested, or changed for social media managers, every week!

I’m heading off to get excited about the big match later today England vs. Scotland [Euro 2020].

“It’s coming home...Football’s coming home! 🎶” ⚽️

Goodbye geeks!

— Matt

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This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant.

Copyright 2021: Matt Navarra Media Ltd

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