Welcome to this week’s episode of Social Chatter where we cover the latest social media news from this past week.
Each episode of Social Chatter is available as a blog post or video.
Let’s see what’s cooking in social media this week with your hosts, Christian Karasiewicz and Nick Rishwain!
Watch This Week’s Social Media Updates
PayPal Payments In Facebook Messenger
This week, PayPal announced that they are rolling out a payment option in Facebook’s Messenger tool.
With this update, you will soon be able to send money using PayPal and Facebook Messenger.
In addition to PayPal, MasterCard support is also on its way to Messenger as well.
Why PayPal Payments In Messenger Matters
With PayPal and MasterCard coming to Messenger, as a business owner, you should be excited.
This means customers will be able to shop on Facebook even easier.
They will be able to browse products you’ve listed on your Facebook Page and check-out using Messenger.
Overall, this makes it easier on you, the business owner because you can now reach customers through your website.
Some of those same customers who engage with you on Facebook, can also make purchases there. This should help to boost your sales.
Facebook Brings 360 Photos and Videos to Instant Articles
Facebook is also rolling out the ability to add Facebook 360 photos and video to Instant Articles.
As you know, Facebook Instant Articles are a tool that allows you to create a separate version of your blog posts that are optimized for mobile.
With Instant Articles, you can create versions of your blogs that are engaging by adding various elements such as polls, photos, videos and now 360 photos and 360 videos.
This update will give you the opportunity to take some of your 360 content and incorporate it into your blog posts and better engage readers.
Why 360 Photos and Videos In Instant Articles Matters
As a business owner, you should consider creating 360 content to sell your business to customers.
You do this through the experience you give them.
By incorporating 360 content into your Instant Articles, not only will this improve the speed that your content loads, but this new content can help delight customers and keep them reading as your story unfolds.
You can read more about 360 content in Facebook Instant Articles on this page.
Facebook Live Video Masks
In more Facebook news, they have rolled out Facebook Live Video masks.
During Facebook Live Videos, you will be able to “try on a variety of different masks — including limited-edition Halloween-themed masks — when you’re sharing live video.”
By adding live video masks, this will help you give your live videos some added flair and excitement to help keep viewers tuned in.
To go live with a Facebook Live Video mask, follow these steps.
- Launch the Facebook mobile app
- Tap the Live Video icon at the top of your Timeline, News Feed or Page.
- Once you are live, tap the magic wand in the upper left corner of your screen.
- Select the masks icon in the creative tools tray at the bottom of your screen.
- Scroll through the options and tap on masks to have them automatically appear on your face when you are live.
- To remove the mask, simply scroll left in the mask trap and tap the no mask sign.
Why Facebook Live Video Masks Matter
Facebook is really pushing the use of Facebook Live Video.
As a business owner, you should be using Facebook Live Video when you can.
Facebook Live Video can be used on pages, events and in groups.
If you’re having a hard time generating engagement, using live video can add another dimension for your business to further engage with your customers.
To read more about the new masks and new Facebook reactions for the holidays, go here.
YouTube End Screens
In YouTube news, they are rolling out a feature called YouTube End Screens.
YouTube End Screens are “a new mobile-friendly tool that lets you engage viewers right as your video finishes and encourages them to watch more on their devices.”
With End Screens, here is how they would work.
“In the last 5-20 seconds of your videos, you can now choose to show hard-to-miss thumbnail overlays that prompt viewers to watch your other videos, subscribe to your channel, visit collaborators’ channels, and more. “
Why YouTube End Screens Matters
Previously, you had to use annotations, which was a desktop-only tool.
YouTube End Screens are now mobile and desktop-friendly.
With End Screens, you can now reach viewers on mobile and desktop and keep them engaged for a longer amount of time.
This will also help improve having to script out your video to point to a YouTube annotation that was non-existent.
Learn more about YouTube End Screens here.
To learn how to add YouTube End Screens to your videos, check out this guide.
Twitter Shuts Down Vine
In Twitter news, they are shutting down Vine.
Vine helped introduce the world to Zach King, aka the Vine magician.
The good news is that if you were a Vine user, you will be able to download your Vines.
The website will also remain online too!
Why the Vine Shutdown Matters
With Vine shutting down, an alternative is to move your short videos over to Instagram.
This way you can continue sharing short videos there and build up your audience.
If you would like to learn more about the Vine shutdown, you can read about it on their company blog post here.
Pinterest Launches Pin Collective
This week, Pinterest launched the “pin collective.”
According to Pinterest, “the Pin Collective connects businesses with Pinterest’s best content creators."
“These experts will work directly with brands to create content that simultaneously delights Pinners and drives business results. Pin Collective partners can provide end-to-end production for everything from Pins to videos to larger creative initiatives. We’ll help businesses choose the right partner for their specific needs.”
Why the Pinterest Pin Collective Matters
If you find your content isn’t getting pinned a lot on Pinterest, you should look into the Pinterest Pin Collective.
They have a team that can help navigate the nuances of what makes content successful on Pinterest.
You can read more about the Pinterest pin collective here.
To sign-up for the Pin Collective, simply go here.
Rethinking LinkedIn Endorsements
This week, LinkedIn is rolling out updates to endorsements.
Here is what is changing with LinkedIn endorsements.
According to LinkedIn, “we’ve made endorsements smarter by highlighting endorsements that matter most to the viewer so you always look your best. For example, viewers will see endorsements made by mutual connections, colleagues, and people who are knowledgeable about the skill, which could give you the edge you need for your next job opportunity!”
What this means is that “now, when someone views your profile, they’ll only see the most relevant endorsements for the skills you want to highlight. With more than a third of hiring managers spending more than 60 seconds browsing your skills and endorsements, we want to make sure they’re seeing skills and endorsements that best represent your aspirations and help you stay ahead in your career.”
LinkedIn will “suggest endorsements to connections that know the skills and your work best. This means the right connections are much more likely to validate you for the skills that you want to be recognized for.”
Here is a tip from LinkedIn on endorsements and skills.
Tip: check that your skills are listed in order of the strengths you want to highlight and we’ll do the rest by targeting suggestions for those top skills.
Why New LinkedIn Endorsements Matters
By making changes to LinkedIn endorsements, this can help you attract the right customers or people looking for help on something you provide.
Previously, if you added your entire work history and listed out all of your skills, someone would have to look through your entire profile.
Now, with these updates, LinkedIn endorsements will try to show the most relevant information to someone when viewing your profile.
This way they see the skills they’re looking for, which should improve your chances of them hiring you.
LinkedIn Company Page Redesign
One last piece of social media news this week from LinkedIn is that they are redesigning LinkedIn Company Pages.
These were also known as LinkedIn Showcase Pages.
This is what the new LinkedIn company pages will look like.
Why A LinkedIn Company Page Redesign Matters
As you can see, they look very clean and streamlined. There is still an emphasis on using a rectangular image.
This is important for business owners though because the image dimensions for LinkedIn company page posts use a size of 1200 x 627px.
Facebook Page posts also use these same image dimensions when sharing blog posts.
This means you won’t have to create multiple versions of an image to use on Facebook and a LinkedIn company page. Instead, you can upload an image to your post once.
To help save you time and streamline the process, we recommend using Social Warfare.
It let’s you specify an image for each social network and even gives you the proper dimensions to use.
Tools
In addition to sharing the latest in social media news from this past week, we also highlighted some great tools and apps to check out.
Pluggio
Pluggio is a desktop application for managing your Twitter and Facebook accounts.
What makes Pluggio unique is that it includes tools to help you grow your audience and also drip content.
Here are some of the features that Pluggio offers.
- Add RSS feeds and news services
- Schedule tweets ahead of time
- Drip new content throughout the day from your favorite sources
- Use friend finder search agent to identify relevant users
- And more
Pluggio is free to start.
If you run an agency or need to add team members, plans start at around $12 per month. You can quickly recuperate this based on how much time Pluggio will save you managing your social media channels.
Try PluggioDirect Message for Instagram
The next tool we wanted to share with you is called Direct Message for Instagram.
Direct Message for Instagram (Mac) is a desktop application for sending and receiving Instagram Direct messages.
You will need this application if you want to use Instagram from your desktop.
This is because on the desktop, Instagram usage is limited.
You can only do the following:
- View Instagram accounts
- Like Instagram posts
- Comment on posts
If you want to do anything else, you will have to use a third-party application or the mobile version of Instagram.
Download Direct Message for InstagramYTCount
The last tool we wanted to share this week is an app called YTCount.
YTCount (iOS) is an app for seeing real-time subscriber and channel growth on YouTube.
Here are some of the features of YTCount.
- Follow multiple YouTube Channels!
- Receive a notification when a milestone is reached!
- Personalize the application however you'd like!
- Watch the YouTube Channels your interested in grow or shrink!
- Watch the number of subscribers of a YouTube channel change, realtime!
- Follow Channels in the Notification Center with our widget
As a business owner, YTCount can save you a lot of time when monitoring your YouTube channel. Simply open the app and you’ll be able to see your subscribers as well as your overall views.
If there are competitors you want to keep an eye on as well, you can add them to YTCount and see their statistics as as well.
YTCount is a free app that’s great to have to quickly check your YouTube channels from your mobile device.
Download YTCountWrap-up
That’s it for this week’s episode of Social Chatter.
Be sure to tune-in to our next episode of Social Chatter to find out what’s new in social media!
If you have any questions about of the social media news or tools that were mentioned this week, please share them with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or in the comments below.
