We Are Social’s Monday Mashup #476

Mashup
Facebook scraps its plans to bring ads to WhatsApp
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook has disbanded the team created to work on the integration of ads into WhatsApp and has since deleted the corresponding code from the app. However, Facebook is still reportedly investigating ways to introduce ads to WhatsApp’s Status feature in the future.

Commenting on the surprise announcement, our Chief Strategy Officer Mobbie Nazir shared these thoughts with Campaign magazine: “This issue of advertising on social platforms is a challenge – but brands should see WhatsApp’s move as a good thing, a reminder that we can’t just pay to get attention. It forces us to think about the value equation.”

Instagram rolls out Direct Messaging for desktop 
Over six years after the feature was first introduced on mobile, Instagram is finally bringing instant messaging to its desktop app. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri confirmed in a tweet last week that the feature is now available to test with a small number of users but hopes it will be more widely available very soon. Direct Messaging on the web will work much the same as it does on the mobile app (it’s already on the app).



YouTube launches Profile cards 
Following an initial testing period, which began last September, YouTube has released its new Profile cards feature to the general public, initially on Android. Users can access the new feature by clicking on the profile picture of anyone who has commented on a video to see the person’s name, profile photo, subscriptions, subscriber counts, and recent comments (limited to comments on the channel you’re currently viewing). YouTube says that the new feature is a way to help creators easily identify their biggest fans and has confirmed it will launch on other devices in the future.

Twitter confirms that it won’t be getting an edit option
Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey confirmed in an interview with WIRED magazine last week that – despite strong advocacy from the platform’s users – Twitter will not be getting an edit button in the foreseeable future, and likely never will. This latest statement goes against comments made by the CEO in 2016, in which he gave users hope by suggesting that tweet editing could be made available within a confined window. Sorry, Twitter fans! 😭

LinkedIn brings LinkedIn Live to all Company Pages 
LinkedIn has announced the addition of LinkedIn Live – the platform’s live streaming service – to all Company Pages, along with a number of smaller updates to kick off the new year. To better support live streaming, the platform is also working on a stream targeting feature with third-party tools to help Company Pages better reach the right audiences.



Pinterest becomes the third-biggest social media platform in the US
Pinterest’s shares rocketed up 13 per cent last week, after a new report by eMarketer revealed that it had beaten Snapchat to become the third-biggest social media platform in the US in terms of users. According to the report, Pinterest had an estimated 82.4 million US users in 2019, up 7.4 per cent from the previous year, while Snapchat had 80.2 million users. Pinterest’s US user figures are also projected to rise by 4.4 per cent to 86 million in 2020.

Pinterest expands its emotional wellbeing activities 
Following the initial introduction of its emotional wellbeing activities to the US last July, Pinterest has expanded the service to Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore and the UK. The platform’s emotional wellbeing activities are a series of guided activities, created with the help of emotional health experts, that are triggered by search terms that might indicate someone is struggling (such as ‘Stress Quotes’).



Burger King weighs in on #Megxit
After Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, announced their plans to work to become financially independent and step back from their royal duties, Burger King took to social media to offer the Prince one of its famous paper crowns, and – by the looks of it – a part-time job. And with brands on social never being far from the action when there’s a moment of cultural importance happening, this opened the gates for more brands – including Budweiser Canada – to jump on the bants.





Celeste Barber raises over A$50m to help Australia
Australian actor, writer, comedian and Instagram star, Celeste Barber has broken all records on Facebook after her fundraiser concert, Fire Fight Australia, raised more than A$50 million to support the NSW Rural Fire Service. The phenomenal success of the campaign has prompted global businesses to get involved, and has even seen celebrities such as Bette Midler and P!nk pledge A$500,000 each, and challenged Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp Executive Chairman and Chairman of Fox, to get invovled.












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Did someone order a hostess?!? I’m so pumped to be hosting this event to raise money for national bushfire relief. I’ve already started stretching. Tickets go on sale TODAY at 12noon AEDT. Link in my stories. www.firefightaustralia.com #FireFightAustralia


A post shared by Celeste Barber (@celestebarber) on








Ones to watch
Instagram is working on a new Map Sticker for Stories which would display your location on a world map; Twitter is reportedly looking into a new number of new updates including tipping option for tweets, improved identification of trolls, tweaks for lists, and more; and TikTok is investigating the possibility of a curated content stream, similar to Snapchat’s Discover feature.