In social media news this month, Twitter gives everyone a voice, Google is Keen for everyone to share their passions and Facebook runs into trouble. It’s time for another Giraffe news roundup!
Facebook Test Mobile Dark Mode
Facebook this month finally rolled out their mobile dark mode to selected users, a few months after the desktop version arrived.
Low-light and dark mode options allow users to change the colour of the background on a website or app to black. This serves a few purposes; firstly, it’s often more aesthetically pleasing and makes text and images easier to see. Secondly, choosing a dark mode setting helps to conserve battery life of your smartphone or laptop.
There’s no news as to when the option will be available to all users.
Google is Keen for Everyone to Share their Passions
Google have launched a new app called Keen this month, which at first glance looks very much like a Pinterest rival. On closer inspection, it’s actually more of a traffic referrer – meaning it could possibly be the next great tool to drive people to your business website.
Designed to keep track of users hobbies and interests, people begin by making a board or a ‘Keen’. They then save links, images, searches and other content relating to one subject. The clever part is what comes next – every time a user makes a Keen, the app uses Google search to trawl the web to look for content related to what you’ve already saved. In short, your content will be automatically placed in front of people, rather than having to wait for them to enter a related term into a search engine.
Keen is currently available on Google Play, but there’s no news as to if (or when) it’s going to be available on iOS. We’re interested to see if it takes off….
Facebook Advertising is Boycotted
The biggest social media news this month is undoubtedly the growing advertising boycott from businesses on Facebook. A huge list of the biggest players, such as Adidas, Ford and Levi Strauss, have started pulling their ads from the worlds most popular social networking site. Starbucks, who are the sixth largest advertiser on Facebook, joined them last week.
The action came after the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and other social justice organizations started the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. This came as a response to Facebook’s failure to adequately address and moderate hate speech on its platforms. So far, Facebook shares have dropped 1%, and the company has taken a $60 billion nosedive in market value.
Twitter Gives Everyone a Voice
Twitter have started testing another new feature this month. Currently only available for iOS users, the platform has introduced voice tweets, which allow users to share 140 seconds of audio content with their audiences. If the content is longer than 140 seconds, Twitter automatically creates a second linked tweet to post alongside the first.
The aim is to add a more ‘human like’ aspect to the Twitter experience. It’s also designed to make tweeting on-the-go an easier and more seamless experience.
