AList is here to give you the deepest insight into the shifts and updates in the world of social media.
Facebook opens this week’s round-up with the important changes it made to its civil rights policies and the ways in which it addresses misleading health-related content issues. Other social media news this week include Twitch hosting an event at Amazon Prime Day, Brita rolling out an influencer campaign to save the environment and Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp experiencing outages in the US and Europe.
Check in daily for more news and tips.
Twitch Curates Faves On Amazon Prime Day; To Host Live Shopping Event
On Amazon Prime Day (July 15th and 16th), Twitch will host a live shopping show, called “Twitch Sells Out: A Prime Day Special Event.”
Why it matters: With popular Twitch streamers showcasing hand-picked merchandise, the event presents an opportunity for Amazon and specific brands to connect with a new user base by combining influencer marketing techniques combined with deep discounts.
The details: The two 12-hour podcasts will mimic home shopping channels and showcase games, gaming accessories, kitchenware and electronics and even some offbeat items offered on Amazon.
Prime members will receive a 30 percent discount on Twitch merch purchased through Amazon between July 3rd and July 16th.
Facebook, Instagram And WhatsApp Suffer Outages
In the U.S. and Europe, users report images and videos not loading on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to DownDetector.
Why it matters: The outages, on the eve of a big American holiday where brands often launch summer campaigns, greatly affect social media ads that featured image and video content.
The details: Many Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users expressed their concerns on Twitter. No comment has yet been from the social media giants.
Brita’s New Instagram Influencer Campaign Fights Water Pollution
To promote its reusable drink bottles, water-filter producer Brita rolled out an influencer campaign that is intentionally Photoshopping images, with the aim of calling attention to plastic waste issue, MobileMarketer reports.
Why it matters: Brita’s cause marketing campaign is hoping to attract tech-savvy, eco-, health- and socially-conscious young consumers, who are known to embrace cause-driven campaigns.
The details: Instagram influencers Kylee Campbell and Kevin Droniak who have approximately 100,000 followers, participate in Brita’s #NoFilterNoFuture campaign, along with the other 19 influencers, who will share personalized pictures, photoshopped to depict natural settings affected by pollution on Instagram.
Facebook Addresses Sensational Health Claims
Facebook announced that the company is taking action to stop the spread of sensational and misleading content related to health on the platform. In June, Facebook made two ranking updates to reduce posts with misleading or sensational health claims and posts that aim to sell products or services based on health-related claims.
Why it matters: The algorithm changes will help create a safer environment for the users and brands on the platform by eliminating the dangerous “miracle cures” and reducing the spread of content posted by bogus companies trying to profit from unverified claims.
The details: According to Facebook, “Most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed as a result of this update. Posts with sensational health claims or solicitation using health-related claims will have reduced distribution. Pages should avoid posts about health that exaggerate or mislead people and posts that try to sell products using health-related claims. If a Page stops posting this content, their posts will no longer be affected by this change.”
Facebook Brings Back Reach Estimates In “Custom Audiences”
After suspending the reach estimates metric due to a potential security concern, the flaw has been fixed and the counter is back on, AdExchanger reports.
Why it matters: The metric is especially important to advertisers, as they use it to preview reach estimates for lists uploaded to Custom Audiences.
The details: In March 2018 the metric was suspended after Northeastern University researchers found a vulnerability. However, according to Facebook, no one had taken advantage of the exploit.
Since then, the feature was halted while Facebook worked with researchers to solve the problem.
Per AdExchanger, eventually, the social media company and the researchers came up with the following solution, “making the rounding logic more complex for how estimates are displayed; improving the backend detection process for potential misuse in collaboration with Facebook’s business integrity team, which investigates security issues; and limiting the number of audiences and API calls that a single account can have.”
Instagram’s New Sticker Allows Conversations Within “Stories”
Instagram introduced the new sticker in “Stories,” called “Chat.”
Why it matters: The sticker allows friends and followers to start chats in “Stories,” which means that brands can directly communicate with their followers on Instagram about the products and services they showcase in “Stories.”
The details: The “Chat” sticker will let users join an Instagram group DM conversation associated with the story post. The original poster, however, does have to approve the request first.
Facebook Publishes A Second Update On The Company’s Civil Rights Audit
Facebook shared a second progress report on the civil rights audit, lead by Laura Murphy, former ACLU Washington director. The consensus is that Facebook’s policies on harmful content, such as white supremacy, still need improvement.
Why it matters: Facebook initially made changes to strengthen the company’s policies and enforcement against harmful content in December 2018, fighting discrimination in Facebook ads, protecting the 2020 census and elections against intimidation and formalizing Facebook’s civil rights task force. However, according to the new report, white supremacy policy on the platform is still “too narrow.”
The details: “The narrow scope of the policy leaves up content that expressly espouses white nationalist ideology without using the term ‘white nationalist. As a result, content that would cause the same harm is permitted to remain on the platform,” the report reads. It suggests that moving forward, Facebook prohibits content that “expressly praises, supports, or represents white nationalist ideology” even if the content does not explicitly use the terms “white nationalism” or “white separatism.”
Note: Facebook’s civil rights audit was initiated in 2018 and its intent is to inform the company’s examination of critical areas of concern and identify changes and improvements to prioritize and implement; and to “focus the company’s attention on its civil rights footprint in a sustained and comprehensive way.” The first audit report can be accessed here.
Twitter Updates Search Results With Additional Information
Twitter rolls out updates to search results on all mobile platforms.
Why it matters: The additional information provides more insights into usage. And for brands, this means that the activity from their account may now appear in relevant searches and help influence whether or not users take action to see more.
The details: It’s assumed that by seeing more information about a search, the user is better guided towards the results he or she is searching for and can better understand whether or not a certain account is worth following.
Editor’s Note: Our weekly social media news post is updated daily. This installment will be updated until Friday, July 5
