Facebook to rank publishers on trust
In Zuckerberg’s next move to clean up Facebook, he’s decided to change the algorithm for publishers to rank them by how trusted they are. Facebook will be polling users on which news source they trust the most and they’ve predicted a 20% drop in how much news people see as a result.
Facebook tests Watch Parties
With Facebook reporting that Live Video generates six times the amount of engagement as normal video, they’re testing out Watch Parties. This is where groups on Facebook can all watch videos together. This can be a regular video from the platform but they’re really aiming for Live, so people can enjoy more of that lovely community feeling.
Instagram tests new Type feature and screen shot alert for Stories
Sooo, Instagram has been testing a new Type feature which means Stories users will be able to take a text-only approach when pictures just can’t get the message across. But enough of that, here’s the REAL news: this is not a drill, Instagram is testing alerts for when you screen shot someone you dislike’s Stories and share them with all your friends… or is that just me?
WhatsApp officially launches WhatsApp Business app
WhatsApp is forging ahead in harnessing the power of businesses with the official launch of its business app in select markets: Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. This is in order to charge businesses for more advanced tools to communicate with their customers using the app. In a cruel twist of fate, it’s only on Android for now.
Snapchat gets clever with targeting using deep links
Snapchat has been working behind the scenes to make it easier for marketers to target people based on the apps that they open and play with the most. Brands can now deep link to specific elements of an app to help drive traffic there. If this is as confusing to you as it is to me, here are Adweek’s examples of how it works – a mobile game developer might want to target players once they hit a specific level in the game, or a retailer could spotlight a product page that a user added to a shopping cart but didn’t buy.
