Snap Inc. ventures further into AR to compete with Instagram Stories Since the launch of Instagram Stories, Snapchat has been seeking ways to innovate and compete with the growth of Instagram, which has overtaken it in daily active users.
Snap inc. CEO Evan Spiegel announced recently that the company had sold 150,000 pairs of its Spectacles, which allowed users to capture and upload Snaps through the wearable device. There is speculation that the next version will include an augmented reality element as uncovered in a patent recently lodged by the company.
The AR-enabled lenses would seem like a logical integration to their recently launched augmented reality products of World Lenses and Snap Art project.
Tinder Will Now Let You Throw a Virtual Drink in Someone’s Face Ever had the burning desire to make a dramatic exit by throwing a drink in someone’s face? We’ll now you can! (virtually). Tinder has launched a new feature that allows users to send animated reactions in a conversation. Some of these animations are exclusively available to women with reactions including a ‘ball’s in your court’ animation or a drink straight to the face.
Tourism Australia Launches Their Latest Campaign Aussie News Today! To encourage travel amongst the coveted millennial audience, Tourism Australia has launched a news channel featuring Rugby player Nick Cummins, Actor Lincoln Lewis and presenter Teigan Nash. Over the coming months, the hosts will travel around Australia reporting on their adventures for a Facebook and Instagram channel called “Aussie News Today.” The show will broadcast travel stories through social, highlighting locations and experiences around Australia.
This will also see a world-first content partnership with Buzzfeed, which will have eight travellers from Europe sent on a road trip around Australia.
Instagram Stories can now be shared on Facebook Stories
If you’re a fan of creating Stories, Facebook has made an update that will help you get your content to a wider audience, more easily. In a new feature currently being rolled out, Facebook is allowing users to share their Instagram Stories to their Facebook Stories. The feature isn’t available to brands, as brands can’t create Facebook stories, and it doesn’t work the other way round (i.e. sharing from Facebook to Instagram) – though Facebook hasn’t ruled out allowing this in the future.
Instagram introduces polls to Stories
Here’s a handy new social media feature for anyone who struggles with everyday decisions. Instagram has introduced a polling feature to Stories, where users can write their own questions, along with two answer options. Those kind enough to respond will be rewarded with the current results as soon as they answer, and users will be able to see who voted for what in their Stories view count page.
Instagram and Shopify make in-app shopping easier
Instagram is looking to make in-app purchasing easier ahead of the Christmas rush. The platform is rolling out a version of its shopping tags tool through an expanded integration with Shopify. Brands selected by Instagram and Shopify will be able to start tagging their posts with products in Instagram’s apps, with those tags enabling users to make purchases from any Instagram post, within the app.
eMarketer lowers Snap’s global ad revenue estimate
It seems Snapchat isn’t quite living up to eMarketer’s expectations. The research firm has lowered its predictions for Snap’s global revenue for the second time this year, this time from $900 million to $774.1 million. The reasoning isn’t complete doom and gloom – it seems that marketers like Snapchat and give it “high marks for its creative possibilities”, but many still see it as experimental.
LinkedIn rolls out geo-filters for events
LinkedIn is feeling Snapchat vibes this week, with the roll out of a new video feature that allows event attendees to add filters to videos they create within the LinkedIn app. The filters, which made their debut at the Grace Hopper Celebration conference, are location-based and form part of LinkedIn’s in-app video creation feature, allowing users to record and share videos directly from the app.
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