We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #323
Facebook Messenger users will soon be able to instantly make purchases using chatbots without third party websites. That’s according to Facebook Messenger boss David Marcus, who shared the latest news from his team at this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt SF. Other key updates included Facebook’s news feed link ads for Messenger bots, as well as updates to make it easier to share a bot with friends.
Apple launches dedicated app store for iMessage
Apple has announced it will be opening a dedicated iMessage app store as part of its next IOS update. Although there’s no talk of chatbots just yet, the store will have stickers and animated features. Brands including Disney, Burger King, Mario Bros., Toyota and Betty Boop are all reportedly on board to launch their own stickers.
Instagram is letting users filter inappropriate comments
Fed up of people writing ‘gorgeous’ and ‘lovely’ in your Instagram comments? Thought not. But if you’re subjected to Instagram trolls who write not so pleasant comments under your posts, you can now set up a filter which picks up on words you don’t like. To set one up for your own account, just create a list of banned words using the system in settings.
Snapchat decides ‘creepy’ ad targeting is actually fine
Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel told a Cannes audience in 2015 that he thought targeted ads were creepy. He didn’t approve of platforms using users’ email, phone numbers and smartphone advertising IDs to sell ads. Well, surprise! The platform has now decided it wasn’t such a creepy idea after all and has adopted Facebook-style targeting using, you guessed it, e-mail addresses, phone number and other information like smartphone advertising IDs. TRUST NO ONE. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
Twitter’s character count rules to change ANY MINUTE NOW
Twitter has announced it is about to change the way it counts 140 characters. Images, gifs, videos, polls, quoted tweets and user names at the beginning of tweets will no longer count towards the 140 character limit. The date this was said to be rolled out was actually today but we can’t see that it’s happened yet. Watch this space and get ready to rejoice in not running ou-
Twitter launches new customer service features for businesses
Next time you want to vent your rage at a brand on Twitter, you might be able to get your problem solved a bit faster. Or, the brand might be able to keep you quiet more easily, depending on how you look at it. Twitter is rolling out a series of new features to help users better connect with businesses on the platform. These include making it clearer if an account offers customer service, as well as the times those accounts are active. Plus, a new Customer Support settings page on the Twitter Dashboard website will enable brands to send a private message to a customer without having to ask them to follow them, and help them to take the conversation ‘offline’ more quickly. Brands including Delta, T-Mobile and United have already activated the feature on their accounts.
Twitter launches tv-compatible live streaming app
Twitter is launching an app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Microsoft’s Xbox One that will allow anyone with one of the devices to watch Twitter-streamed content without using a paywall or logging into a Twitter account. The free app, announced today, is available in select global markets. Twitter has announced a series of live streaming partnerships this year with brands includingthe NFL, MLB, NBA and Bloomberg News.
YouTube launches ‘Community’ social networking features
YouTube has created a new social networking feature, Community, for video creators to better engage viewers using text posts, images, GIFs and other content. Viewers will see these posts in their “Subscriptions” feed in the YouTube mobile app, and can also choose to receive push notifications from their favourite creators.
Burberry launches fashion chatbot
Watch out @DomThePizzaBot, there’s a new, fashionable chatbot in town. Burberry has created its own bot to complement the brand’s first foray into “see-now-buy-now” fashion. Hot on the perfectly designed heels of Tommy Hilfiger’s fashion bot, Burberry’s bot has been providing behind-the-scenes looks at the inspiration for the latest collection in advance of its London Fashion Week show. Fashion fans can access the bot by visiting Burberry’s Facebook page and clicking a link to scan a mobile QR code.
Chevy and IBM Watson reward social media positivity with free petrol
IBM Watson has created the Chevrolet Global Positivity System (conveniently abbreviated as GPS) to promote the carmaker’s latest ‘positivity’ campaign. The system uses Watson’s cognitive capabilities to analyse people’s social media channels and, if they visit one of a number of select petrol stations around the world, they could be rewarded with free fuel. The more positive their output, the more free fuel they will receive. Probably best to steer clear of posts about global warming, then…