Welcome to this week's episode of Social Chatter, the longest running social media marketing talk show, covering the latest social media news from this past week.
As a reminder, each episode of Social Chatter is available as a blog post or video.
Let's see what's new in social media this week with your hosts, Christian Karasiewicz and Nick Rishwain.
We're also joined by this week's special guest, Janelle Romero, the Sassy Survivor.
If you would like to connect with Janelle, be sure to visit her website.
Watch This Week's Social Media Updates
Blocking Facebook Pages From Running Facebook Ads
In Facebook news, Facebook is taking things one step further to stop the spread of fake news.
You can now have your Facebook Pages blocked from running Facebook Ads.
Why Blocking Facebook Pages From Running Facebook Ads Matters For Your Business
On last week's episode of Social Chatter, we, we talked about how Facebook was taking action against video clickbait.
This week, they are taking things a step further.
"If a Page repeatedly shares stories that have been marked as false by third-party fact-checkers, they will no longer be able to buy ads on Facebook."
While this doesn't mean you'll be blocked from running Facebook Ads forever, they say you "may be eligible to start running ads again."
Of course, the repercussions of sharing fake news are immense.
With Facebook reach continuing to drop, Facebook Ads are a necessity.
So the bottomline is if you're a business and you run Facebook Ads, be careful about the content you are sharing on Facebook.
Not only will this help keep your business on the right side with Facebook, but you'll avoid any potential slowdown to grow your business using Facebook Ads.
You can read the official announcement Facebook Page
Adding Video to Facebook Events
This week, we spotted a new place to share video on Facebook - in Facebook Events.
Why Video In Facebook Events Matters For Your Business
Each week, we create Facebook Events to promote our social media marketing talk show, Social Chatter.
This past week, as we were creating a new event, we noticed the following.
If you put on a regularly schedule event, this can be a great place to upload a video such as a sizzle reel, for your event.
While static photos make sense in certain instances, they don't, when it comes to an event.
Often times, you have to bring the energy and hype your event.
What better way than to showcase this directly in your event, where attendees can see it and then invite their own friends!
You can find this new feature in the Facebook Events section on your Facebook Page, when you create a new event.
Facebook Publisher Logos In Trending and Search
Also this week, Facebook began showing publisher logos in trending and search sections.
Why Facebook Publisher Logos In Trending and Search Matter For Your Business
Facebook is rolling out publisher logos in the trending and search sections on Facebook.
They are doing this "as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance people's recognition of the sources of news distributed on our platform."
Publishers will be able to upload their logos through a brand asset library.
This way your logo can appear next to your content on Facebook.
Right now, Facebook is rolling this out to trending and search.
This is what you can expect to see with publisher logos in the trending section of Facebook.
Eventually, Facebook wants to have this everywhere people consume news - read, your news feed.
As a business, this can help to extend your brand.
To get started uploading your brand logos, take a look at these guidelines from Facebook.
To read the announcement about publisher logos, check out this article.
Instagram Stories on the Mobile Web
In Instagram news, they are rolling out Instagram Stories on desktop and mobile.
Why Instagram Stories on the Mobile Web Matters For Your Business
Instagram is expanding Instagram Stories to people who use the mobile web.
Here's what Instagram Stories on the mobile web looks like.
While we would love to see Instagram Stories on the desktop, this feature isn't available yet.
For now, having Instagram Stories available from the mobile browser will help your business expand its presence to people who may not be using the Instagram app.
You can read more about Instagram on the mobile web here from Instagram.
Improvements to Instagram Multiple Photo Albums
In Instagram news, they are making it easier to share photos and videos using multiple photo albums.
Why Improvements to Multiple Photos and Videos on Instagram Matters For Your Business
Instagram is continuing to improve how you share multiple photos and videos on Instagram.
Previously, you could only share square items.
Today, they are rolling out the ability to share portrait and landscape formats.
It looks like this.
There is one caveat to this.
According to Instagram, "to keep the experience smooth and consistent, however, all photos and videos in your post must be shared in the same format."
This is a good step in the right direction for business owners, because sometimes, being confined to one size just one cut it.
In addition to this improvement, Instagram will also now let you edit tagged people after you've shared a post.
You can also use save them as Instagram Drafts too.
Here is the official announcement from Instagram.
YouTube Adds New, Easier to Use, Features
In YouTube news, they are making the site easier to use across desktop and mobile.
Why A New, Easier to Use YouTube, Matters For Your Business
In an effort to improve the functionality of YouTube, they are adding a host of new features for desktop and mobile users.
Here are the new mobile features you can expect to see:
- Clean new design: We've made the header white to let content take the lead and moved the navigation tabs to the bottom of the app so they're closer to your thumbs. We also added new Library and Account tabs that give you easy access to what you're looking for.
- Videos that move with you: One of the things we're working on is bringing gestures to YouTube. Earlier this year, we introduced a gesture that allows you to double tap on the left or right side of a video to fast forward or rewind 10 seconds. Give it a try! We already see billions of double taps per day. And I wanted to give you a sneak peek at another gesture I am really excited about. In the coming months, we'll experiment with a feature that lets you jump between videos with a simple swipe of your hand: just swipe left to watch a previous video or swipe right to watch the next one.
- Watch at your own pace: Users love that they are able to speed up and slow down the playback of a video on desktop, and we're excited to bring this feature to the mobile app today, so you can enjoy videos at whatever speed you prefer.
- Adapt to any video, beautifully: We've also been experimenting with new ways to display all videos in the best possible way. Soon, the YouTube player will seamlessly change shape to match the video format you're watching, such as vertical, square or horizontal. That means you'll always get the best viewing experience automatically – including vertical videos with no black bars on the sides!
- Browse and discover while you watch: We recently added a feature that lets you view a row of suggested videos while you're watching in full screen. We're also working on transforming the area below the player so you can browse videos in totally new ways.
The YouTube version on the desktop is getting a new dark theme, which will turn the background dark, in order to give it a more cinematic look.
YouTube is also refreshing their logo as well.
The main updates are going to be primarily to the mobile experience.
As a business owner, we're especially glad to see the ability to speed up or slow down videos.
Sometimes you need extra time to absorb what you're watching.
Overall, these updates across YouTube should help make it easier for you as a business, to identify and consume the content you're interested in, in less time.
For those of you interested in seeing how YouTube has evolved, here's a snapshot.
As a business, it can be difficult to follow conversations on Instagram.
Now, if you want to reply to someone on Instagram, simply hit reply underneath a comment.
Your response will be grouped underneath the appropriate thread.
This not only makes it easier for you to see which customers you have responded to, but your audience can also follow the conversation a lot better.
Instagram comment threads will be rolling out to everyone on iOS and Android in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, you may want to take some time top familiarize yourself with the new comment threading on Instagram.
You can read the announcement about new YouTube updates here.
Google Six-Second Video Previews on Mobile
Also this week, Google announced a major update to its mobile search.
When you come across a video using Google's mobile search, you'll now get to watch a six-second preview to see if it's a video you want to view.
Why Google Six-Second Video Previews on Mobile Matter For Your Business
With more and more people producing video content, you can waste a lot of time clicking into a video, only to find out it wasn't what you were expecting.
Google is introducing six-second silent video previews on mobile search.
This is what it will look like.
As a business owner, this can be an immensely useful feature.
Now, instead of lots of clicking just to find the right video, you can get a silent video preview first.
This way you can save yourself a lot of time in the process.
If your business is creating the video content, you may want to take a look at where viewers are dropping off in your YouTube analytics to see if you need to make changes to the opening of your videos.
You can read more about Google's six-second previews on mobile here.
Tools
In addition to sharing the latest news from this past week, we also highlighted some great social media tools and apps for you to check out.
Popamatic
The first tool that we have discovered this week is called Popamatic (web).
Do you find you don't have time to manage your Instagram account?
As a business owner and entrepreneur, it can be challenging trying to juggle everything at once.
With Popamatic, you can bring on an assistant to help you manage your Instagram account.
They'll help you generate real likes and add new followers, while you're managing other aspects of your business.
Popamatic is compliant with Instagram's TOS and will also provide you with monthly reports on the performance of your channel.
You can try Popamatic free for 7-days using the link below.
Download PopamaticGain App
The second tool that we have for you this week is called Gain (web).
Do you find yourself sending a lot of emails back and forth between clients?
With Gain, you can quickly manage your social media approval process and see what posts will look like before they are shared.
No more missed emails.
You can decide how many levels a post needs for approvals and only invite those people to review the social media content.
With Gain, social media managers and digital agencies can get back more of their time when working with social post approvals.
You can try the Gain app it from the link below.
Try GainWrap-up
That's it for this week's show!
To watch next week's episode of Social Chatter, your weekly social media marketing talk show, tune-in to our Facebook Page to find out what's new in social media news!
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.
