We Are Social Asia Tuesday Tuneup #186
News
News
China’s mobile social networking users to reach 335.9 million
In a recent report cited by ChinaInternetWatch, eMarketer estimates that the number of mobile social networking users in China will reach 335.9 million by the end of 2015. By 2019, they estimate that number will exceed 480.4 million – approximately 35% of the country’s population. Exact numbers for social media users in China can be tricky to come by though; compare this latest report with recent figures from China’s social media giant Tencent, who reported they’d already surpassed more than 500 million active social media accounts accessing via mobile devices in March of this year. The numbers in different reports may vary considerably, but they all have one thing in common: the future of social is most definitely mobile [if you’re looking for more stats on digital use in China, try our recent APAC report].
Find activity buddies with PlanDo
Feeling spontaneous but none of your friends are available? A new social networking app called PlanDo aims to solve that. Developed in Hong Kong, this app helps you find activities to join and potential new buddies just days or even hours in advance. In the future, there are also plans for event organisers and businesses to add listings and take payments within the app.
The YouTube versus Facebook video debate continues
Although Facebook is fast becoming a real rival to YouTube with its video offering, a debate has started around which metric is most useful to brands when measuring effectiveness on both platforms. Facebook places emphasis on ‘views’, which are logged after three seconds of watching, a strategy which has seen their results publicly scrutinised. YouTube on the other hand thinks ‘watch time’ is where it’s at.
Facebook lets users respond privately to local-awareness ads
In a move that pushes Facebook further into the direct response channel realm, a local-awareness ad service has been introduced that lets users message businesses directly with customer service queries. Businesses that respond quickly to users’ rants and raves will also get a public badge rating them as ‘highly responsive’.
Facebook adds live streaming – but it’s not for you
Unless you’re reading this Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson *waves*. A live streaming service has been introduced on Facebook but at this stage it’s ring-fenced just for the famous. Facebook has not commented on whether it will eventually be rolled out for brands or us, the lowly non-famous.
Facebook launches new live event stream with Lollapalooza
For the first time fans are able to virtually attend a festival via Facebook, through its Place Tips feature. The stream was debuted for Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival; content was a culmination of user images and updates from performers at the event. Flat beer and endless toilet queues, not included.
Instagram finally switches on its money jets (advertising API)
Following what has been described as “one of the most anticipated moments in the evolution of advertising”, marketers will be able to advertise on Instagram just as they do on Facebook and Twitter. Now brands can sidestep phone calls with Instagram sales reps and instead self-serve ads with third-party platforms.
Twitter to roll out ‘breaking news’ tab
Twitter wants to get serious about news. How serious? Making a new tab serious, that’s how serious! When you click the tab, you’ll see curated top stories from major news publishers like The New York Times and CBS. It’s unconfirmed when this feature will be fully rolled out, so watch this space.
LinkedIn proves itself further for B2B advertising
It has been announced that LinkedIn’s native Sponsored Updates has accounted for 45% of its ad revenue in the second quarter of this year. This is a result of the platform’s move away from supplying traffic to third-party publishers and instead becoming a publishing platform in its own right.
Social Selling Index helps LinkedIn users measure personal brand health
Sales professionals on LinkedIn, or anyone else interested in ‘social selling’, will now be able identify key areas for improvement using its new Social Selling Index, which rates users out of 100 based on four categories. I won’t tell you what they are here but will reveal that none of them are based on how dashing you look in your profile picture.