If you enjoy random soccer memes and dog videos as much as I do, you’ll be happy to hear that you should now be able to find them all in one place – Facebook’s new Explore Feed. Located under the ‘More’ menu, it’s an ad-free area containing posts, articles, photos and videos from sources you haven’t followed yet, going beyond beyond posts from friends and Pages you already like.
The down side of this is that is that it looks like Facebook is almost completely killing organic reach for Pages. So you’re either A) a publisher and in the Explore Feed or B) a brand/business that has to pay to get into regular feeds, only to be placed alongside my mum’s out-of-focus selfies and cousin’s friend’s baby photos.
Snapchat dangles referral traffic with link sharing from other apps
However, all is not lost for publishers. In an update to Snapchat’s iOS app today, Snap began rolling out two important new features, one of which allows you to share links from other apps via the iOS share sheet. You can send a private message with the link to one or several people – making Snap a legitimate source of referral traffic for news and e-commerce sites.
The other recent update allows you to briefly disappear from its Snap map. Rather than just turning live location sharing on or off permanently, users can go in “Ghost Mode” for three or 24 hours. If you’re cheating on your partner or just going to a secret party, this update is for you!
Facebook enters into Pinterest power struggle with new ‘Sets’ feature In a not-very-surprising copycat move, Facebook has released a new way to group content that mirrors Pinterest’s style of posting. I know what you’re thinking – “Facebook eats platforms like Pinterest for breakfast!” and, well, you’re not wrong. ‘Sets’ lets users group photos, status updates and videos together based on interests, so whether it’s food, or I don’t know, cos-play (where adults dress up as their favourite characters), Facebook will ensure you have lots of good Sets.
Twitter introduces a new video ad format Slightly less sexy but ultimately important news from Twitter HQ: they’re launching a new video ad format that pushes people to visit a website in the moment. The video will auto play alongside a preview of the website, which should grab fans attention then compel them to click.
Australian government launches world-first reporting tool for revenge porn
Taking steps to report image-based abuse can be arduous and emotionally draining. However, that shouldn’t deter victims from speaking up. With the shocking statistic that one in five Australians is a victims of image-based abuse, our government is pledging $4.8 million to develop a national portal for reporting instances where intimate images are shared online without consent.
The portal will allow victims to report revenge porn online and provide immediate access to support that had been previously unavailable, according to a statement. A pilot phase will examine the complexity and the volume of the reports before the portal officially launches early next year.
Spotify launches new emerging artist program
Spotify already has a reputation as a hitmaker for new artists and other up-and-comers, but now the company is turning its prowess into a product with the launch of RISE – a new program designed to “identify and break the next wave of music superstars.”
This will include promoting their selected artists on Spotify and its many editorially-programmed playlists, as well as through out-of-home advertising, TV ads, and digital and social promotions. In addition, Spotify says it will create one-of-a-kind live events for each RISE artist and release audio and video content that delves into the artist’s backstory.
Initially it will be rolled out in the US, UK and Canada, but given the strength of our market, we’re expecting it roll out in Australia in the not-too-distant future.
Facebook tests Live video producer tool
Facebook getting ready to give video producers much more flexibility with their live broadcasts by testing a web-based ‘Live Video Producer’ tool that would allow you to control footage from multiple cameras in one stream.
Until now, you could only use multiple cameras and overlays by leveraging Facebook Live’s API with third-party solutions. This was great for experienced production teams, but not so much for the less experienced creators. By having a first-party solution, it should be much easier for anyone wanting to live stream to use multiple formats, split screens and various overlays to give these streams some more graphical pizzazz.
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