Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media.
On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore Facebook organic reach update for pages, Instagram Live sharing in Direct Messages, and Facebook shutting down their personal assistant “M” with Jeff Sieh, and other breaking social media marketing news of the week!
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If you’re new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, January 12, 2018. You can also listen to the show as an audio podcast, found on iTunes/Apple Podcast, Android, Google Play, Stitcher, and RSS.
For this week’s top stories, you’ll find timestamps below that allow you to fast-forward in the replay above.
Facebook Announces Updates to Organic Reach for Pages: Facebook announced major changes to the way it will organically serve page posts. Mark Zuckerberg states that Facebook will “prioritize posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions between people… [and] posts from friends and family over public content, consistent with [its] News Feed values.” He goes on to state that as a result of this update, “Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease.” (4:35)
Michael Stelzner will appear on the show next week to provide an in-depth analysis of what this means for page owners and marketers and how it will impact Facebook content going forward.
Instagram Allows Users to Send Live Videos in Direct Messages: Instagram recently announced that users can now privately send live videos over direct messaging. This update is available as part of the newest version of the Instagram app for iOS and Android. (9:06)
Instagram announced that users can now privately send live videos over direct messaging.
Instagram Officially Rolls Out Recommended Posts: After testing posts that are “Recommended for You” with a small group of users, Instagram has quietly rolled out this new feature on iOS and Android. According to a post found on Instagram’s Help Center, “these posts are suggested based on posts liked by accounts you follow” and can be disabled at any time. (14:20)
Instagram will now add ‘Recommended’ posts to your feed https://t.co/AJTUAWfLhl by @sarahintampa
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December 27, 2017
Instagram Tests Ability to Share Stories Directly to WhatsApp: TechCrunch reports that Instagram is allowing a “small number” of test users to post their Instagram stories directly to WhatsApp as a status. An Instagram story posted as a WhatsApp status also becomes encrypted like the rest of WhatsApp. (18:37)
Instagram tests letting users post Stories directly to WhatsApp https://t.co/95T3GviPih
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 4, 2018
Facebook Messenger Will Retire Stand-Alone Personal Assistant M: Facebook alerted users of M, its text-based virtual assistant, that it will sunset the service on January 19. Facebook M was debuted as a limited beta test in August 2015 and was expected to roll out more broadly over time. The Verge reports that some aspects of the service will continue to power “M suggestions,” which offers fully automated suggestions for payments, making plans, and prompts for sending stickers through Messenger. (23:09)
Facebook is shutting down M, its personal assistant service that combined humans and AI https://t.co/LSPNlrinBN pic.twitter.com/GXKclF9me6
— The Verge (@verge) January 8, 2018
Facebook Tests New Local News Section: Facebook is testing a new section of the mobile app called “Today In.” It features a feed made up entirely of local news, events, and announcements. Recode reports that Facebook is currently vetting local publishers in New Orleans, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; Billings, Montana; Peoria, Illinois; Olympia, Washington; and Binghamton, New York to be featured in this section. This test is currently limited to just these six U.S. cities.
Facebook is testing a new section of the app specifically for local news and events https://t.co/JHnNbd4fKA pic.twitter.com/hnJYbfxKu2
— Recode (@Recode) January 10, 2018
Facebook Allows Edits on Image Alt-Text: It appears that Facebook will now allow users to override auto-generated alt-text for images uploaded to the site. Facebook began using its object recognition technology to automatically describe the content of photos for blind and visually impaired users in 2016. By 2017, this technology was being used to enable new search capabilities, facial recognition, and filter objectionable content. This new update was discovered by Matt Navarra.
Facebook now allows users to override auto-generated alt-text for images uploaded to the site.
Facebook Adds New Tagging Option to Stories: Facebook now appears to allow broadcasters to tag other people and pages in their stories. This new feature was discovered by Matt Navarra.
NEW? Facebook now lets you tag people and pages in Stories
h/t @nyactor pic.twitter.com/CnV3ApW1oM
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) January 11, 2018
Instagram Halts Live Broadcasts That Possibly Violate Copyrights: It’s been discovered that Instagram now interrupts live videos if it detects that the audio, music, or video content being streamed infringes on someone else’s copyright. When a match is detected, a warning pops up and suggests that you “finish your broadcast now” if you don’t have the rights to share all of the content in your video. Last month, we reported that Instagram appears to have rolled out Rights Manager for Instagram and this seems to be an extension of that initiative. This new service for Instagram was discovered by Matt Navarra.
Instagram now interrupts live videos if it detects that the content being streamed infringes on a copyright.
Facebook Launches Messenger Kids for Fire Tablets: Facebook’s new Messenger Kids app designed for children younger than age 13 is now available on Amazon’s Fire tablets. Messenger Kids initially launched on iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch in early December, and can now be found on the Amazon Appstore in the U.S.
Facebook brings Messenger Kids to Fire tablets https://t.co/E7TOqNNczk by @sarahintampa
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) January 10, 2018
Facebook and Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sign Licensing Deal for Music Videos: This week, Facebook and Sony/ATV Music Publishing announced a multi-year licensing deal that lets people upload and share video from Sony/ATV artists like Ed Sheeran, Kanye West, Taylor Swift, and other popular artists on Facebook, Instagram, and the Oculus Rift platform. While the financial details of this agreement haven’t been disclosed, TechCrunch reports that the terms state that “musicians will receive royalties for the use of their songs… and songwriters will now benefit from the use of their music on Facebook.”
Sony Music Publishing and Facebook sign a deal for online videos https://t.co/XeBLJb5W6M pic.twitter.com/kjZtN0Snch
— Bloomberg (@business) January 8, 2018
Facebook and Universal Music Group Sign Global Music Licensing Deal: Facebook and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a new “global, multi-year” partnership under which UMG will be the first major music company to license its recorded music and publishing catalogs for video and other social media experiences across Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus. This deal was announced on December 21, 2017, and will allow Facebook to launch experimental social music features like the recently released Facebook Sound Collection over time.
UMG is proud to announce the first partnership between a major music company & Facebook, the largest social media company in the world, to license our recorded & publishing music catalogs for use in videos created across Facebook, Instagram & Oculus. https://t.co/YouXAl6RCT pic.twitter.com/W9IMWbIIXE
— Universal MusicGroup (@UMG) December 22, 2017
Snapchat Developing Stories Everywhere Feature: Snap Inc. is considering ways to broadcast its user-generated content beyond the core Snapchat app. The company is reportedly working on a new feature called “Stories Everywhere,” which is designed to expand Snapchat’s presence and make it a more engaging destination for news, sports, and other premium content.
#CheddarScoops Exclusive: @Snapchat developing ‘Stories Everywhere’ to distribute videos outside of the app. #CheddarLIVE pic.twitter.com/pGcE0442Sp
— Cheddar (@cheddar) December 27, 2017
Snapchat Reportedly Considering 3-Second Unskippable Pre-Roll Ads: AdAge reports that Snap Inc. is giving “serious consideration” to adding 3 seconds of commercial breaks before offering a skip option on ads on Snapchat. This new ad format would attract more ad dollars from brands and advertisers, which a source confirms aren’t spending as much as on Snapchat as they have previously.
.@Snapchat — a company that’s been reluctant to impose ads on its audience — is now weighing whether it will force people to sit through three seconds of commercial breaks before offering a skip option: https://t.co/kWUxqgxg2I pic.twitter.com/BS89yVHyuH
— Ad Age (@adage) January 3, 2018
Facebook Reportedly Developing Video Chat Product, Portal: Facebook is expected to launch a new video chat device named “Portal,” which will be in direct competition with Amazon’s line of Echo voice-controlled devices. Reports suggest that this new device will be designed as a consumer product to be used in the home “as a way for families and friends to stay connected through video chatting and other social features.” Facebook Portal is expected to cost $499 and officially debut in early May 2018 at Facebook’s annual developer conference.
#CheddarScoops Exclusive: Facebook is diving into the home device market with a video chat product named “Portal” that is expected to cost $499 and will be announced in early May. https://t.co/6SNQCqVjG6 #CheddarLIVE $FB
— Cheddar Scoops (@CheddarScoops) January 9, 2018