Facebook shops are here
Selling products from Facebook just got easier. No more friction, no more waiting for websites to load. Customers will be able to buy directly from you on Facebook or Instagram.
Small businesses will be able to set up shops where customers can browse products, add them straight to the cart and for US stores, pay directly on Facebook.
Customers will be able to stay in touch via Messenger and Instagram direct and businesses will be able to tag products on live broadcasts, making online sales more accessible.
Is this the new way of shopping?
Twitter changes the way it shows images and videos
No more big images with ugly text overlay on Twitter and that’s not all the good news.
The unattractive image style is being replaced by standard images and videos with Tweets.
You’ll be able to add up to 4 images or videos to a tweet.
We’ve always been able to do this on desktop but on mobile, the large images were forced on us. Even better is that return of replying to a tweet with a video, this had been a wonderful way to build stronger relationships with the people who engage with you on Twitter.
And, they’re adding retweeting with a video. Thanks, Twitter.
Could the demise of large images in the feed be a sign that Twitter is getting ready to roll out their ‘Fleets’ story tool.
New TikTok CEO
TikTok just appointed a new CEO and he’s American.
Could this improve TikTok’s reputation?
Former Disney+ champion Kevin Mayer is taking the top job at TikTok. The company formally based in China is now based in the Cayman Islands.
By grabbing an American CEO they must hope to remove the cloud from over their head.
Mayer says he’d like to grow the gaming and music opportunities on the network.
This could be the beginning of the end of the barrier to TikTok’s ultimate success. Both the UK and the US ban military personnel and their families from using TikTok because it had been a Chinese company. Chinese companies are obliged to share data with their government.
Their move to the Cayman Islands, a tax haven and the new boss being from the states will begin to quash those fears.
Facebook just bought Giphy
If you use Gifs online the chances are you are using some hosted by Giphy. Giphy is the YouTube of Gifs and Facebook just bought it.
It seems it’s mostly to be used on Instagram where they have found people love to use them in stories and direct messages.
50% of Giphy traffic comes from Facebook products with 1/2 of that coming from Instagram.
What does this mean for us? Will we start seeing more Gifs? Will they become part of our online language like emojis have?
https://about.fb.com/news/2020/05/welcome-giphy/
https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1262404590445531136
Instagram IGTV sharing
Your Instagram live broadcasts can now live on IGTV. You have the option at the end of a broadcast to save straight to IGTV.
This will be a great way to get more from your live broadcasts that normally disappear after 24 hours.
I wouldn’t recommend saving all broadcasts, be selective and share broadcasts people will want to watch again like interviews, tips, tutorials. This will make your IGTV a place people will want to come back to. We should see more IGTV as a result.
Twitter is testing new reply tools
Did you ever tweet something and it got lots of annoying comments? Maybe they’re spammy, maybe they’re annoying, maybe they’re abusive. Twitter is testing a way to stop that happening.
As demonstrated by this cheeky tweet from Twitter you’ll now be able to restrict who can reply to your Tweets.
Select from everyone, people you follow or people you tag.
Users will get a message if they try to reply and the reply icon will be greyed out.
I wouldn’t recommend using this for every tweet but it could be a good way to get feedback from the people you’ve chosen to follow or to open a conversation with a group of people without getting interrupted. I’m looking forward to seeing how businesses use this.
Facebook hints at when we can and can’t use music on videos
Have you ever had a video deleted by Facebook for using music? Or had part of your video muted?
This week Facebook revealed some fo the rules around sharing music on the platform.
They have a licence to use music and although they didn’t reveal everything they did give us some useful tips.
They say:
We CAN use it on stories and when filming a live gig. We should use short clips and we must include a visual component.
https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/blog/updates-and-guidelines-for-including-music-in-video
Facebook introduces group engagement alerts
Managing a large and busy Facebook group can be overwhelming. It’s difficult to stay on top of all the posts and comments.
Engagement alerts will help busy admins keep their group conversation on track and minimise conflict.
You will be able to set up alerts for when a post gets a lot of reactions, reactions of a specific type, comments and even when a particular comment gets a lot of replies.
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