In social media news this week, a new app changes the way we could read the news, Facebook opens its Messenger app to children and Sony/ATV Music makes a deal with Facebook.
Hear all about it…well some of it!
New app Zig, which launched this week, hopes to change the way people read news on social media. The app, which focuses on popular culture, takes the interests and habits of a user and creates a personal rendition of the news. The CEO compared the app to Instagram as the feed is all images that link through to different articles. It’s a big step in the news industry and will alter the way social media users get information. Zig aligns itself with current social media trends as it favours images over text and simplifies the amount of news we get from lots of different platforms. The app collates all the news in one place and provides a lighter entry to what’s going on in the world.
Messenger for Kids
As each generation is born, their relationship with social media grows stronger. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Facebook have released a Messenger app for children, appropriately named Messenger Kids. The app allows young kids to text and video chat with friends and family. However, the parents of the user are in control of what contacts their children have and who can contact them.
Messenger Kids was an idea set up to make conversing through Facebook safer, as the messages can be seen by parents too and either user or parent can block and report any suspicious or unwanted behaviour. A user cannot set up an account unless authorised through the parent’s Facebook profile or connect with another until the request has been approved by the guardian. The app has now become available on iOS and can be downloaded onto Amazon’s Fire tablets.
This one’s for all the music fans out there…
Facebook and Sony/ATV Music Publishing concluded a deal that now allows the social media site’s users to upload and add a choice of three million songs to their posts, without any copyright issues. The deal also extends to Instagram and means that artists earn royalties from any music shared on to the platforms. As video content is only increasing on Facebook, musicians are likely to profit from the agreement. This is the second deal Facebook have closed with a record group, as they recently created a partnership with Universal Music Group for the same reasons – so Facebook users can continue to upload to the site without any external concerns.
