This Month in Social: October 2016

The world of social media is constantly changing – and with so many platforms and algorithms out there, it’s hard to keep up. That’s why we provide our clients and followers with This Month in Social – where we highlight the biggest changes in social media and how we prepare to tackle them.

Snapchat Rebrands to Snap Inc.
Snapchat as we know it is changing. The once social media app is branching out into hardware with its newest product, Spectacles, and as such decided to drop the “chat” from its name and go with Snap Inc.
What this means for businesses: Don’t fear yet – the Snapchat product is still alive and well, only difference is now Snapchat is a product of Snap Inc. Snapchat is still a leading social platform for giving your audience behind the scenes looks into your brand and Spectacles may offer a new tool in content creation.

Twitter Changes its Character Count
First announced earlier this summer, Twitter has finally rolled out the revised character count on Tweets. Media attachments (images, GIFs, videos, polls, et.) and quoted tweets will no longer reduce the count, yippee!
What this means for businesses: Now you’ll have more room for text, giving users and brands more flexibility in composing their messages – GIF users rejoice.

Facebook Introduces Marketplace
According to Facebook’s blog, more than 450 million people visit buy and sell groups each month. This is the inspiration behind Facebook’s newest feature: Marketplace. Consider it a friendlier, more personable, Craigslist. Here, users will be able to discover, buy, and sell products from one another – without the anonymity.
What this means for businesses: Currently Marketplace is only available to users and while there are no Pages(brands) allowed on Marketplace now, Facebook could one day generate ad revenue if it let businesses or people take out ads promoting products they are selling.

Instagram Makes Drafts Feature Available to All
As you could expect, the drafts feature lets users save work mid-post and revisit at a later date to make additional adjustments. Saved drafts will appear in a special section of your library, above the rest of your photos.
What this means for businesses: A small update, but a welcomed one. Now users can queue up several posts at once and continue to edit as time allows. Bonus for users who manage several accounts at once!

Twitter Locked in Internal Battle Over Sale
ICYMI – Twitter’s a mess. According to Engadget, the social network is locked in an internal battle over its future. CEO Jack Dorsey wants to keep Twitter as an independent company however co-founder and board member Ev Williams wants to pursue a sale. Bids are creeping in from potential suitors Salesforce, Google, and Walt Disney Co., and Twitter is seeking to conclude negotiations about selling itself by the end of the month.
What this means for businesses: The future is unclear. Each potential suitor has a different focus in mind for Twitter from customer service communications to expanding entertainment programming. It’s also not certain the process will result in a sale. It remains a waiting game, for now.

Have any questions regarding the above changes and updates? Reach out to one of Ferocious Media’s Social Media Analysts today!

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