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Social Media News Roundup: March ’17 Week 5

Social media news roundup march 17 week 5
In the news this week – Facebook tests a new News Feed, Twitter removes names from tweet replies and Instagram is officially labelled as narcissistic…
Facebook tests new rocket ship News Feed

Facebook is testing a new feed of alternative content that users may be interested in, in the shape of a rocket ship icon adjacent to the News Feed button. This button has been spotted both at the top and bottom of the screen, depending on whether users are on the iOS or Android app. It includes content such as posts, articles, photos and videos from sources that users haven’t yet followed but may have an interest in based on what they currently like.

The new feed is part of Facebook’s attempts to better angle content towards user’s interests, while also encouraging engagement with content outside their own inner circle. Facebook believe that it could help limit misinformation and the spread of fake news by encouraging engagement with a broader array of media organisations and pages.

Facebook is bringing chatbots to groups in Messenger

According to TechCrunch, chatbots will soon be available on Facebook Messenger for a variety of functions, such as updates and new tickers for group members. These include sports bots, e-commerce bots and news bots, helping keep participants aware and informed on specific news and events.

It’s not yet clear how chatbots will be added to groups. The announcement has also been made that Facebook is opening its API to allow users to build their own bots for their own specific groups.

Twitter removes usernames from character count in tweet replies

Twitter is going to make tweet replies longer by stopping usernames from counting towards the 140 character count in responses. Originally announced back in May 2016, the update means that users will have more room to continue their dialogue via interactions.

The update has been met with some scepticism, particularly around the subject of Twitter canoes – situations where two or more people take to one of your tweets to start a heated discussion that doesn’t actually concern you. Beforehand usernames could be omitted in order to limit this. However, with that possibility removed it could result in some larger-scale frustration. Twitter has added a thread-specific mute button to help tackle this.

Instagram is officially the most narcissistic app

Instagram has been named as the number one app for narcissists, according to a survey. Undertaken by LendEDU, the survey found that 64 percent of millennials believe Instagram is the vainest social media app, ahead of Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter combined.

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