We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #353
It would save everybody a lot of time if after every new feature of Snapchat was launched, we just waited a couple of months and re-issued the story but replaced Snapchat with Instagram. Yet again Instagram have launched a well-known Snapchat capability on their platform, this time it’s the staple of Snapchat – the selfie filter. There are just eight for the time being, including koala ears and nerd glasses.
Facebook Messenger debuts a new look
Facebook Messenger is having a small re-jig in an attempt to highlight all the different ways there are to communicate with friends within the app which aren’t text. A new tab will be appearing at the top of the app which has different tabs for messages, active users and groups. Moving this tab to the top frees up more space in the main navigation bar at the bottom for things like games.
Facebook tests Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger unification
Word on the street is that Facebook is testing out cross-app notifications for Facebook, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, where you will receive notification for all in one place and be able to switch instantly between them.
Facebook rolls out new ‘order food’ option in its navigation bar
If you’re peckish for more than a bit of Wi-Fi, you’re in luck as in the near future you may be able to order delicious food from within Facebook with the new ‘order food’ tab. Indicated by a small burger, Facebook lets your order from certain restaurants through online ordering services delivery.com and Slice.
Facebook groups can now screen potential members with questions
Facebook has rolled out to all Facebook group admins the ability to pose questions to people who request access to their Facebook group. This means it could be easier to spot trolls, spammers or just people who claim they know EVERYTHING there is to know about Celine Dion…
Facebook can now auto-create Canvas ads from an URL
Facebook is now automating some of the creation of Canvas ads by offering you the option to input an URL and let it pull images and associated destination links. Great for those of us who can’t design for toffee, bad for those whose job it is to design for toffee.
Facebook offers refunds to advertisers after a bit of an F-up
Facebook has been handing out refunds to advertisers due to incorrectly charging them. It was discovered that some video measurements had been inaccurate and that advertisers were being charged when mobile web users clicked their videos to full screen as opposed to when they clicked a link to through to website which was the original agreement.
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone comes back to the fold
First of all can we just take a moment to take in this guy’s name – BIZ, that’s B.I.Z Stone. Ok now that’s done, an announcement has been made that Biz is BACK, after leaving Twitter six years ago, to take up a role focusing on company culture. Mr Stone wrote:
It’s important that everyone understands the whole story of Twitter and each of our roles in that story … I’ll shape the experience internally so it’s also felt outside the company.
Pinterest updates Lens after further testing
Pinterest Lens is a feature which lets you take a picture of something IRL and then Pinterest will offer suggestions around the picture you have submitted, whether that’s recipes or crafting inspo. It’s still in beta and after a period or user testing, it has now updated Lens, so it can now pick out multiple things from an image submitted, give quick responses to QR codes, taking you straight to the associated website without tapping and they’ve now also added a shortcut which takes you straight to Lens when using an iPhone.
Corbyn hijacks PM’s Facebook live Q&A to challenge her to a duel
During a Facebook Live event with the UK’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, for ITV News last week, one of the questions posed came from a familiar name indeed; a one, Jeremy Corbyn of Islington. Corbyn challenged May to a TV debate to which she responded that she thought it was more important to answer voter questions directly and that people did not want to see politicians “have a go at each other”.