As we enter December, social media begins a new era with Facebook looking into artificial intelligence to tackle suicide on its site, Twitter following in the steps of Facebook with a ‘Save for Later’ tab and Snapchat redesigning its ‘Stories’ and ‘Discover’ features to make it easier for users. Here’s the lowdown in social media news this week:
Facebook’s A.I. Suicide Prevention
Facebook is looking at ways to improve its suicide prevention online. They are currently testing artificial intelligence technology that analyses users’ posts and identifies patterns that use any terms relating to self-harm or negative content that could indicate suicidal thoughts. The A.I. was used to identify what posts a person saw first, which Facebook has built on to be able to alert responders quickly. Also, if any comments to a person that indicate an individual is struggling will be identified. The posts will be reviewed and help will be sent if necessary. The technology is able to analyse live and recorded videos too. Facebook will also use resources through Messenger to reach out to users who appear to be considering suicide.
Save the Tweets for Later
Twitter is rumoured to be developing a ‘Save for Later’ feature this week on its site. The new update will allow users to bookmark and come back to tweets, like users can on Facebook. The bookmarks, unlike likes or retweets, will be kept private so only the user can see what they’ve saved. It will be accessible in the tabs, alongside ‘Moments’ and ‘Lists’. Many users have requested the feature and it is likely to be introduced in the future, however it hasn’t been fully tested on tweeters yet.
Snapchat Separates Social from Media
Snapchat has updated its Discover feature and separated it from friends’ stories to make the app easier to use. The usual design of friends’ stories that a user hasn’t seen, and the videos and images that they have, is usually split up by advertisements and news that a person hasn’t chosen to see. The redesign parts the two altogether, with the Discover feature becoming its own section that an individual has to swipe to access. Snapchat are also combining other features to differentiate between content. This is great for users as they get to choose what they want to see and returns Snapchat back to its origins with its personal relationship between users.
