Pick your own Twitter algorithm
We have a love-hate relationship with algorithms. We don’t like how they decrease the reach of our content but in general, we like to see the content that interests us most in our feeds.
Or most of us do. Twitter is working on something that will allow 3rd-party developers to essentially create algorithms that you will be able to choose instead of the main Twitter algorithm.
You can already choose to see the latest tweets or the main algorithm on Twitter but this may give you other options. Maybe you want to see more threads and less chit chat. Fewer links and more fun, there could be an algorithm for that.
For marketers, this will be a nightmare, instead of having one algorithm to understand now you’ll have to decide which algorithms your audience uses and develop your content strategy based on that.
Snapchat shared stories
Wouldn’t it be good if when you launch a campaign with a whole bunch of people, be it creators or staff you could easily collate all those posts?
Now you can, on Snapchat. Shared stories allow you to invite friends to participate in a story. You could use this for cookery demos, crafts and product launches.
Shared stories will be viewable by your connections and everyone who participates connections meaning the reach could be epic. It’s a fun way to engage an audience, but only if your audience is on Snapchat.
https://newsroom.snap.com/shared-stories
WhatsApp edit button
Typos are the bane of any marketer’s life. Typing on a phone isn’t as easy as typing on a computer, it’s a whole new skill. With WhatsApp launching more business tools the number of typos in your professional life may become a bigger issue. Your customers will see your bad typing and spelling!
Could that be why WhatsApp is working on an edit button? So far all we know is that it’s a work in progress but could it be similar to Messenger where you can delete messages before they have been seen by others? Will there be an edit history? Either way, it will be a good way to get rid of those embarrassing mistakes.
Is Apple about to launch a search engine?
Could Apple be about to announce a new search engine? Rumours are rife ahead of the Apple developer conference on Monday (6th June).
In a throwaway remark on Twitter Robert Scoble made reference to a search engine connected to Siri.
Over the last few years, Apple has been working on tightened privacy controls for users. First, there was the update that stopped Facebook (and others) from tracking your online activity. Then there was the update that protected your mail privacy. Could this new search engine be privacy-centric and strongly connected to voice search?
Could Apple be the company that unseats Google as the king of search? Unlikely but it will be interesting to watch the fight.
https://www.seroundtable.com/apple-to-announce-new-search-engine-33508.html
Snapchat wants to animate the whole of you
I’m always jealous of the tools that younger people have access to today to create content. Imagine being able to Crete an animated character based on your own movements. You could make it do anything. Snapchat just applied for a patent that could mean we could do just that.
The patent covers animating 3D avatars based on the movements of a user captured in a video. So you can create a 3D avatar of yourself, powered by your own movement, which could be amazing not only on Snapchat but in VR worlds and the Metaverse.
Interestingly a person’s gait is said to be as identifiable as a person’s face so this could really seem like the real you.
I can’t wait to give it a go.
https://patentdrop.substack.com/p/050-patent-drop-snap-amazon-and-nvidia
New Google core search update
Google updates its search algorithm several times a year. And it just happened again.
What does this mean? You may see a decrease in traffic from Google or an increase. Google rarely even hints at what updates it implements, knowing if it did so everyone would try and hack the system. Essentially, updates keep Google search results free of algorithm hackers… or that’s the plan.
If you see an increase or decline in your Google search traffic it could be due to this algorithm change, if you can identify why, you’ll be able to fix issues or share your wins with others.
No more square Instagram?
The days of carefully curating your home page on Instagram could become more challenging soon. We’ve recently heard that Instagram is working on giving you more control over the order that posts appear on your profile, now it looks like you’ll be able to choose to display images in a 4:5 ratio rather than as a square.
It looks like Instagram is committed to ridding us of that square. Will it open up new creative options for users? We will no longer have to orchestrate images and videos around the centre of the image to ensure they still work on our home pages?
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