Tuesday Tune-Up #313

News
phil.shearer
Facebook updates: Messenger Day is Dead


In its latest wave of updates, Facebook has killed off Messenger Day and merged the chat app’s Stories feature with Facebook Stories. So you won’t see a Story as unviewed in one app if you’ve already watched it in the other.

There’s more! Users of Facebook Groups and Events can now contribute to a collective Facebook Story, visible to the rest of the members and moderated by the admins. Working like a private hashtag, multiple people can add content around a particular event (a festival/a wedding/a group moustache growing) that only those involved can see.

It seems like Facebook just can’t stop cutting Snapchat’s grass.



Facebook launches new Creator app for influencers
Facebook is trying to win over the influencer crowd with an app built just for them. Its latest app, Creator, will give internet stars a place to create and edit videos, film live, message with followers, and track stats about their videos. The app also connects to Watch, for those influencers with an official show on the social network.

Facebook launches dynamic and lead ads for automotive brands
In recent months, Facebook has crafted ad products for specific industries such as travel and real estate. Now automotive brands can get in on the action. The new dynamic ads will allow manufacturers and dealers to upload new and used vehicle inventory, complete with details including make, model, year and mileage; then Facebook will automatically generate ads that show the most compelling vehicles to the right audiences.



 

Snapchat updates give advertisers a more targeted approach
Brands can now target specific audiences on Snapchat based on their age, gender, interests and even the time of day. It’s hoped that the new audience filters will be significantly more useful to advertisers than geofilters, which only enable them to reach users in specific locations.

Snapchat advertisers can now also add Context Cards to Lenses and Filters for free, providing users more information and allowing advertisers to directly track their ROI. This will be supported by the fact that, for the first time ever, users will now be able to swipe up on any snap that includes a Sponsored Lens or Filter to open up the linked website URL, without leaving the platform. In the past, advertisers could only use Sponsored Lenses and Filters to track engagement, but now they will be able to quantify whether those Filters and Lenses actually drove an action.

Instagram celebrates the holiday season with Thanksgiving stickers
Instagram is marking Thanksgiving with a new set of stickers, helping US users add a little extra creativity to their posts throughout the holidays – with everything from expressive turkeys and decorative grounds to a pumpkin spice latte.



Love Actually as told by Teddy Bears

If you didn’t realise Christmas was even approaching, chances are you do now after finding yourself weeping in front of  your screen, yet again, at the latest Christmas ad out of the UK. Yes they were once the sole domain of department stores. But Heathrow is now a retailer as much as an airport, which explains their second instalment in the love affair between Doris and Edward. Paws and reflect.



Twitter extends display names to 50 characters
Twitter has followed its recent expansion to 280 characters by upping another character limit. The social network will now allow users’ display names to run up to 50 characters in length, however user names will still be limited to 15 characters.

 



Speaking of names, is your name Will Smith?
Mine isn’t. It’s Phil Shearer. But if yours is Will Smith – we want you! Since the Will Smith can’t make it to Australia, all Aussie Will Smiths are invited to help Netflix promote his new film, Bright, which launches just before Christmas. Also starring Australia’s own Joel Edgerton as an Orc. Aussie Wills would do well to get in touch with their more famous namesake.



This post courtesy of THE Phil Shearer