We Are Social Asia Tuesday Tuneup #157

News
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A puzzle game with social features
More than just a puzzle game, Socioball allow players to create their own levels and share it on Twitter. Using Twitter as a level-sharing platform, the gaming app uses the hashtag #socioball to decode image data and make levels created by its players accessible and playable by other users.

Tumblr to create a Chinese version of its platform
Unlike other blogging sites like WordPress and Blogger, Tumblr is still free from China’s Great Firewall, possibly due to the fact that the blogging site is still not known to the masses. However, with Tumblr’s efforts to open itself to the Chinese market, it may soon be subjected to China’s censorship.

UC browser to incorporate real-time Facebook notifications
UC Web’s browser was recently ranked the most popular third-party mobile browser in the world and even ranked above first-party browsers in some key Asian markets such as India and China. As part of its efforts to make the browser more appealing to Facebook users, it will now feature real-time Facebook notifications, and will be the first browser to allow users to receive notifications outside of Facebook’s mobile apps.

WeChat’s investment fund banked US$16 billion in just a year
Since the launch of WeChat‘s online investment fund, the messaging app company has garnered a total of 10 million users in China who have invested a total of US$16.2 billion in just a year. Besides the relatively high interest returns compared to banks, the ease at which users can invest is a strong pull factor.

Google search results link to brands’ social profiles
First up is a news story that we’d say ‘puts the OO in Google’, if we weren’t above that sort of terrible pun. Google search results already link to social profiles for certain celebrities – the same will now happen for brands and companies, on both desktop and mobile.

Social profiles in Google Search

Facebook likes can predict your personality
Computers know you better than your spouse, provided you’ve liked at least 300 Facebook pages. Researchers at Cambridge and Stanford universities have found that, given access to enough information about your Facebook likes, a computer can predict personality traits better than any human. Naturally, this could have a huge impact for brands, as they try to better understand their consumers; We Are Social’s own Paul Greenwood spoke to Marketing Magazine about the possibilities that Facebook data brings:

Facebook Likes offer just one dimension of someone’s attitudes and behaviours. Other signals, such as what people share, what they say, what other platforms they use and so on, can offer a much deeper understanding. The difficulty of course is getting access to that data at scale.

Facebook trialling work-only platform
If you like using Facebook at work, but can’t use Facebook at work, try using Facebook at Work. The new work-only network is being tested with a few partner companies, before it is rolled out fully. The plan is that it will be used as an internal communication platform, where you can do the usual things (post updates, group chat etc.) but only colleagues will see it, and only when using Facebook at Work. At the moment, Facebook has said its focus is growth, not monetisation.

Google catching Facebook for social logins
Q4 figures from Janrain show that Google has cut Facebook’s lead in social logins. Google grew quarter-on-quarter from 35% to 40%, while Facebook dipped from 46% to 43%.

Janrain4Q2014SocialLogin650

Twitter useful for TV and film marketers
If you’re in the TV or film game, Twitter is your friend. Two pieces of research have suggested so in the last week, anyway. The first, by Nielsen, suggests that Twitter TV activity can anticipate audience sizes, as depicted by this positive correlation:

Screen Shot 2015-01-19 at 3.38.51 PM

The latter, by marketing analytics software provider MarketShare, argues that the platform can have a real impact on box office sales. In fact, over a three year period, Twitter was shown to contribute to 18% of cinema ticket sales, while £1 of ad spend generated £5.88 in revenue.

The cost of advertising on Snapchat
Snapchat is asking for $750,000 per day of advertising, according to Adweek sources. There’s a question mark over whether that’s too expensive, or worth it for access to a lucrative teen audience. Either way, don’t expect Snapchat ads for your local bakery any time soon.

Avengers trailer hits social media
The latest Avengers trailer has been shared on both Facebook and YouTube, and it’s proven an interesting experiment in how video spreads on both platforms. Facebook saw quicker instant growth, but, as of today, YouTube is far ahead (around 65m views to Facebook’s 7m). It suggests that Facebook is good for viral spread, while YouTube has a higher shelf life. It’s only one example, but it’s good food for Thor-t. Right, guys? Guys?

Gillette’s Tinder experiment
Gillette has used Tinder to research whether women prefer men with beards or without. It’s an interesting way for the platform to gain revenue, but I think we all know the answer: girls love guys that are 24 and still incapable of growing a beard. Trust me.

YouTube’s Superbowl halftime show
YouTube is planning an alternative Superbowl halftime show, hosted by Harley Morenstein, the leader of the EpicMealTime crew. It will feature a whole host of YouTube stars, musical performances and even fake ads.

Buffalo Wild Wings makes videos from tweets
Buffalo Wild Wings is turning tweets into sports analysis videos on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. For the NFL post-season, followers can tweet using #BWWPostGame for the chance to be included. You can see one video below – there’s another one yet to come, for the Superbowl itself.

Brands respond to college playoffs
We hope you like American football, because there’s another story coming up. Last week saw college football’s first playoff competition, with brands as keen as ever to react to the event. The first two are in response to a turnover after the ball was fumbled, while the latter played on the unlikelihood of a Ducks comeback.

Branded tweets about #FiveWordsToRuinADate Brands loved last week’s #FiveWordsToRuinADate trend. They loved it a lot. Some of them loved it well, some of them weren’t quite so successful. We’ll let you decide.

Choose your own Twitter adventure
We’ll leave you with a game. Start with the tweet below and see how far you get – it’s a ‘choose your own adventure’, made to promote Timothy Jarvis’s book ‘The Wanderer’.