In social media news this month, Facebook takes action on scam ads, Twitter introduces a new ‘Follow’ tool, Instagram tries going without the likes and Instagram Stories gets an update.
Facebook hates scam
Facebook hits back at scam advertisers by releasing a new tool exclusive for users in the UK. The tool allows users to send detailed reports on ads they think are scams.
Users can simply flag ads they think aren’t true, by selecting the three dots on the right and hitting ‘Report ad’. You can then click through and identify it as a scam and fill out more details on it if you want to, which may be useful to people who have already been conned by the business. A specialised team at Facebook will then look through the report and act accordingly. This will hopefully help other users stop seeing the ad and potentially getting scammed too.
Connection is everything
Twitter is helping people to connect this month, by making it easier for users to follow their new followers. The new feature puts a snippet of people’s Twitter profiles in your notifications when they follow you, instead of just an ominous name you must click through to, to discover. The snippet is accompanied by a big follow button, allowing you to simply tap to follow back. Twitter wants people to engage with each other, and gain followers, and this seems like the perfect way to do it!
A post with no likes
Instagram have been running tests this month to see how users fend without the number of their post likes showing up on the app. The number of likes can still be seen by the user that posted the photos or videos, but their followers are unable to glimpse it. Instagram hope that by removing this vanity element on the app, people will care less about what they’re posting and just enjoy their experience on social media instead. The test has expanded to more countries this month, including New Zealand, Japan and Ireland!
Separated stories
Instagram is working on more updates for its Stories feature, with a new ‘Stories About You’ section. It’s quite a simple tool that will show up in the ‘You’ section of your notifications, except the activity from Stories will be separated and given its own area. Users will be notified, as usual, if someone tags or mentions you in their Story, except now the notification will be clearer. This is super useful for brands who are engaged with a lot, as they can streamline their activity.
