Catch up on the need-to-know changes and updates in social media that affect your business and brand…all in one place.
Below are highlights of changes on top social media platforms for the week ending May 23, 2014:
New on Facebook
Facebook May Soon Know What You’re Watching–And Hearing
Earlier this week, Facebook unveiled a new audio recognition feature for users. Much like Shazam, when turned on, the feature will identify songs or television shows that you’re listening to. The goal? The network hopes by enabling this feature, you’ll share what you’re listening to or watching with your friends.
[Tweet “Facebook unveils new feature that recognizes what users are listening to and watching.”]
According to Facebook, the feature is able to identify millions of songs and TV shows from 160 different stations. Once enabled, and the app recognizes what you’re listening to or watching, the content will appear automatically in a post or it will be one click away in the “Feelings” tab above the keyboard. You have the option to share this with your friends or not. Keep in mind that if you do decide to share what you’re listening to or watching, your friends will even be able to listen to a 30-second preview of that song or show–right from their News Feed.
For advertisers and marketers, this is huge. This new feature allows Facebook to collect info on what users may be watching–even if they don’t share it with their friends. This information will be useful when creating future campaigns with interest targeting and much more. More to follow.
– Mashable
New on Pinterest
Boost Pinterest Analytics with Help from Third Parties
Also making headlines this week, Pinterest announced it will now allow marketers to gather data from third-party sources to help better understand and interpret users’ activity on the site. The platform hopes access to this data will help marketers figure out which of their activities on Pinterest generate the most engagement.
[Tweet “Pinterest announces third-party analytics coming soon.”]
At the present time, only a handful of third-party marketing technology providers are being considered: Salesforce, Hootsuite, Spredfast, Percolate, Piqora, Curalate, and Tailwind. Rumor has it the platform will grant these providers “automated access to some public data through an API known as ‘Business Insights.’ Pinterest emphasizes that it will continue developing Pinterest Analytics as a free tool, but third-parties should aim to provide additional insights and features beyond what Pinterest offers at this moment.”
Would you take advantage of better Pinterest analytics?
New on LinkedIn
How Does Your LinkedIn Profile Compare to Others?
New this week, LinkedIn unveiled a new tool in the “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” section. Entitled “How You Rank,” the new tool compares your profile views to others in your network–allowing you to see how you stack up against your connections.
[Tweet “New LinkedIn tool allows you to see how your profile compares to others in your network.”]
For those of us in the social media business, the “How You Rank” tool will be extremely helpful in keeping up with what our other social media counterparts are up to. As the official LinkedIn blog post described, this tool will be great “to gain inspiration for changes you can make to your own profile, or content you can share to increase views to your profile and drive opportunities for advancement.”
How do you rank?
New on Google Plus
Google+ for Android Revamped–and Worth the Wait
The Google+ app for Android devices has a whole new look, including NINE new features and a revamped design for a better user experience.
[Tweet “Google Plus for Andriod has a whole new look and a slew of new features.”]
Here’s the skinny on the nine new features per Googler Dave Besbris:
- Auto Awesome Stories now combine your photos, videos and the places you visit into travelogues.
- Auto Awesome Movies are now available on Android, iOS and the web–so you’ll receive highlight reels of your photos and videos.
- You can now create animated GIFs and photobooth-style images on demand. Just tap the new plus button in Photos, and select either Motion or Mix.
- Really big photo libraries are now supported on Android, so you can access your many thousands of photos quickly and easily.
- You can now browse your entire photo library, as well as your highlights, by date. Just drag the new scroll bar to move forwards or backwards in time.
- Profiles now display total content views on both Android and the web. (You can choose to show or hide this number via settings.)
- A new navigation menu makes it easier to switch between your favorite circles and communities, as well as other places in the app.
- It’s a lot easier to share content from your phone or tablet. To give it a try, just tap the new pencil icon at the bottom right of the stream.
- The app menu now slides away as you move down the stream, letting posts fill the entire screen.
According to the network, the nine new features and revamped Google+ design will roll out gradually to Android users around the world. Stay tuned!
New on Yelp
Yelp Introduces User-Generated Videos to App
Big news this week, Yelp announced it will soon let users supplement their reviews with short video clips when using Yelp’s mobile app.
[Tweet “Yelp unveils user-generated video reviews for its mobile app.”]
Per Mashable, “videos will be between three and 12 seconds long and are meant to complement reviews, not be act as their own standalone assessments.” Yelp says it imagines the new video feature being particularly useful in situations when words and pictures aren’t descriptive enough, “such as when trying to convey the noise level or ambiance of an establishment.”
The company will begin rolling out video to its iOS and Android app early next month.
How do you feel about user-generated videos contributing to your Yelp reviews?
– Mashable
