Twitter adds more sports to its livestream portfolio Hey! Twitter Twitter Twitter. Swing! Twitter Twitter Twitter. The real-time platform recently announced new deals with both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, which will allow them to livestream out-of-market games that even non-users will be able to access. And you’re in luck, footy fans – they’ve struck a deal with Sky, which means they can show Premier League Football clips. A new nightly show called The Rally, which will showcase sports highlights ranging from college events to the Olympics, is also being produced. Can sports save Twitter? We’ll have to wait and see!
Facebook continues to boost earnings and users in Q2… Facebook has announced another round of excellent results for Q2. With a steady user growth of 3.63%, they’ve added 60 million new monthly users to reach a grand total of 1.71 billion.
Revenue growth was reported at 59% year on year…
Can we stop with all the ‘Facebook is dying’ rumours already? The data reigns supreme!
…And Twitter growth limps on Aside from tackling sports, Twitter had some numerical announcements of its own. While Twitter’s Q2 earnings are up 20% from last year, it has shown a very slow user growth. Its 313 million monthly active users are up only 3% from a year ago and just 1% from last quarter, despite its big sporting efforts and marketing initiatives.
Twitter launches new marketing push The big blue bird won’t go down without a fight! They’ve taken matters into their own hands and conducted research to reveal one of their main problems is misperception – potential users are unsure of what the platform is actually for. To outsiders, it’s still a social network, but Twitter itself identifies as a news platform, so much so that they’ve changed their iTunes and Google Play classification to ‘news’. With hopes of combating stalling user numbers, Twitter is embarking on a marketing push, including this 45-second spot that they hope will make things a bit clearer for people.
Reddit allows brands to sponsor organic user posts Reddit is also hungry for money, literally. The platform announced it will be working with brands to promote user posts that they feel fit with brand messages. For example, Taco Bell may want to promote a fan image of a life-size Crunchwrap Supreme, which could then be displayed on different parts of the site and targeted to users that the brand wants to reach. Users will be asked for permission to use their posts and rewarded with a lifetime subscription to Reddit Gold. We’d prefer a lifetime of Crunchwrap Supremes, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.
Lowe’s new 360 videos help fans with home improvement Ever wanted to know how to build a teepee in one minute? Of course! Lowe’s is making your craft dreams come true in a content series called Made In A Minute, which shows users how to complete home improvement projects in, you guessed it, just one minute. The videos are made up of eight individual frames stitched together so users can re-watch each part as much as they like. Gather your tribe and check out the video here!
How a show steals the spotlight on social
In an age where we’re inundated by truly brilliant TV, few new shows are able to break through the clutter and inspire such an avalanche of affection as the magical arrival of ‘Stranger Things’. Within just a few days of its launch on Netflix, the show’s fan culture had already reached frenzy mode driven by social media.
The immediate win is that it’s a classic 80s thriller with a killer soundtrack, spun out episodically for the binge generation. It also has universally loveable characters – from the ‘loser’ kids on a mission to Eleven’s telekinetic mysteriousness and Winona’s heartfelt reprise. Plus, the 80s aesthetic made for meme gold with some official GIF help from the show’s social team.
Arguably though, the show’s biggest success in creating a devoted social fandom has been the parts it let slip under the radar, empowering fans to tell their own versions of the story. This is at its most poignant in the unbridled love for Barb – the character with the lowest kudos and the least screen time who has become the unsung hero of the series. From the moment fans started watching, hashtags like #findbarb and #prayforbarb swept through Twitter trends, a mural was rumoured to have been painted in Melbourne and NYC, and she became the champion of the long-suffering best friend in us all. Nicely done, Stranger Things. Nicely done.
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