Issue #23 - Now Pay Businesses via WhatsApp
So we’ve now reached the second week of April. Halfway through April already! I hope you had a nice, well-rested bank holiday and welcome the 4-day week. This week we discuss some exciting news between Microsoft and Snapchat, a nutty opinion of the week and just a little bit of Elon Musk News. I promise, not a lot in his department as he’s becoming a bit 'old news.’?
Snapchat
As much as the Covid Zoom meetings may be over, sometimes virtual is still the direction we’re working in and despite some people still not quite understanding when their mic is either off or on, we’ve all got pretty good at virtual meetings. One aspect of virtual meetings I’m sure we all experienced were the filters and the backgrounds. Snapchat still isn’t over that and has now introduced Snapchat lenses to Microsoft Teams. I really wished they would’ve had these whilst I was doing online learning. I wouldn’t of had to bring my own sunglasses to liven up the French lessons. I could’ve had a Snapchat birthday filter rather than my Media teacher just have a standard, party background - although I did really appreciate that. The Verge claims there will be 26 Snapchat lenses that users can include when in meetings. Maybe if you’re a Google Teams kinda company, you may want to think about changing just for this update? What’s even better is that you don’t have to download a separate app for this. Usually you have to download something else on top so the update works but according to The Verge, not with this! Meaning there are no excuses when it comes to getting colleagues to join in on the filter fun. I say colleagues and not friends or users who use it for educational purposes because unfortunately, it is just for work use profiles on the platform. I don’t quite understand why we can’t use it for personal use but we can’t have it all. At least it will make the weekly meetings a bit more exciting! Quoted from the article “You’ll also have to use the current “classic” version of Teams instead of the “New Teams” preview client that Microsoft started previewing late last month.” There will also be more to come in May when Microsoft start the release of dynamic backgrounds!?
To read more have a look at these articles:
Now some news for you Snapchat users out there. Do you feel like there is a limited selection of music for you to use on your snaps? Yes, same. Well, news just in that Snapchat is purchasing a new music liscence that will allow us to have access to more music. So rather that adding that song that kind of goes well with your snap, you can now have the perfect one. The feature of adding music came not long after ability for users to do it on their?Instagram stories and with the success it gained, Snapchat weren’t far to follow. Despite this I’ve never felt posting on my Snapchat story was the same as posting on my Instagram. I don’t know why just how I felt. TechCrunch lists some of the participating labels which, to save you time, I won’t include but can be found in the TechCrunch article towards the start. The good aspect of Snap adding music is that it allows independent artists to have another platform where they can share their music. They claim that “Additionally, it has content from over 9,000 independent music publishers and labels in its library.”?
To read more have a look at this article:
Meta?
Not long ago I remember discussing a WhatsApp story that would improve the business use of WhatsApp. If I remember rightly, it was a Maps-like feature that allowed you to discover businesses in the area. This time around, WhatsApp is now allowing users to pay merchants across the messaging platform. This is, however, only currently available in Brazil. Sneaky, I know. I maybe should’ve mentioned that in the title if you clicked because of this story. But just think of all the amazing stories you’ll read and learn about this week! Anyway, continuing on with this new feature update for WhatsApp, it was announced by the one and only Zuckerberg and phrased as being able to “pay local businesses right in a WhatsApp chat.” Immediately after reading this article I thought this would probably help many independent, local businesses. Another thought that did occur was “why Brazil?”. Referenced by TechCrunch but originally from Meta, “The company last announced in 2020 that more than 5 million businesses in Brazil use WhatsApp” so you can see why the platform is the first to get this update! “On WhatsApp in Brazil, you can search for a business, browse goods and services, add them to your cart and make a payment all with just a few taps.” Not long before I’ll be shopping for dresses on WhatsApp now!
To read more have a look at these articles:
TikTok?
So it wasn’t long ago we released a blog all to do with TikTok’s shopping feature and how brands can accelerate their brand because of this feature. Well we’ve done our job as a digital agency and we’ve beaten the news! This happened to me with one of the newsletter editions a couple of weeks ago. I’d beaten Social Media Today when reporting! Proud moment. Anyway, back to the TikTok shopping. Social Media Today have beaten me to this topic and have reported the platform want to push this feature more. The feature has been known to be popular within China however many in the western world don’t feel the same. Can’t be blamed. Half of the shopping ads look like scams if you ask me. This new push has been put into place by asking and ?“inviting selected retailers to join its in-app shopping push, offering them big subsidies on shipping and sales to help maximize interest.” The retailers that have been asked currently seem to just be US based. It’s planned that users could get up to a 30% discount on some of their shopping experiences. Not bad. Take any discount I can right now! What astounds me is that the e-commerce, live stream shopping market is a $500 billion market. I think a ‘wtf’ moment could be inserted here. Let’s see if this final push can boost any luck for TikTok and earn them some more pocketmoney.????
To read more have a look at these articles:
??Livestream Shopping: A $500 Billion Market In 2022 As Amazon, Google, Facebook, TikTok Jump In? (Forbes)
??TikTok Launches New Push on In-Stream Shopping (Social Media Today)
?
Twitter?
So it’s official. On the 20th of April we say a farewell to the blue tick legacy on Twitter. It seems like this date has been changing time and time again, being pushed back and then whenever the date actually comes its pushed back even further but this time however, it seems official. Even Variety agrees with me, making this statement at the start of their article? “Elon Musk has set a deadline — maybe — for purging legacy blue check-marks from Twitter accounts that aren’t paying him for verification” It’s about time they go. If a social platform states they’re going to take something down then they should just do it. However this back and fourth does seem very on trend in the Musk Twitter era. Some of you may be wondering why this date? In my opinion, I think Musk moved this change to suit this particular, humorous date. (I would suggest you look into it if you don’t understand the reference!) As time has gone by, I do understand as to why you have to pay but I still wonder whether is it necessary or not. As well as that, not as many brands have boycotted the platform than I imagined but maybe the legacy removal will be a chance to see if any brands don’t pay? I’m not sure. I feel like the dramatisation of the tick going has died down and maybe Musk is pushing back the date just to stay relevant in the news. Not only him but also his platform.???
领英推荐
To read more have a look at these articles:
Instagram?
Do you ever get those messages popping up in your account about an influencer opportunity? Usually a representative from a brand with only 2 followers asking for you to get in touch and DM the brand label for the opportunity. Well the news isn’t quite about those messages but is all to do with influencers. More specifically, connecting the top influencers to new content creator opportunities. This is being done with a launch of a new API access. Fancy! So what does this entail? From what I can understand, it will allow for talent agencies to message infleunvcers with creator opportunities. I know many influencers will have their profile set up as a business account, which if you’re unaware splits your DMs into 3 different categories. Primary, General and Requested. Primary and General are usually easy to navigate however, you don’t always get the notifications for Requested so at times you can miss messages.As summed up by Social Media Today “The new API access would give third-party platforms access to DM functionality, as well as the capacity to share project briefs, helping to streamline the connection process.” This follows with a mention of 3 main features that agencies will then be able to do now. “Find the best talent for their brand clients, Track creator conversations with a dedicated folder, and Work with creators effectively and see progress.” Now if you’re an avid content creator, you never you know an agency just might be in touch with a job for you soon!
?To read more have a look at these articles:
??Instagram Launches New API Access to Streamline Creator Partnerships (Social Media Today)
??Instagram Expands Its API Access So Talent Agencies Can Reach Out To Creators On The App Easiliy (Digital Information World)
AI / VR / AR
I love this piece of news just because of how freaky it is! Facebook has implemented many features from other platforms and one of the more obvious ones that it magpied from was Instagram. This being Stories. I don’t blame Facebook including a Stories feature. I love them however, I love putting my own Stories up - not Stories that Instagram put up for me. The new feature, currently just in testing phase, will see AI generate images based on your previous posts being uploaded to your own Story Profile. If you don’t use the Story feature than you’re fine, I’m guessing. If you do, then how do you feel about this? During hockey season, I post whenever I’m at a game so does that mean I’ll have AI generated hockey games posted on my story? This new feature is called ‘Advanced Stories’, which actually feels like an understatement. As Social Media Today dives into the story, we learn that the generator will creating images of 1) pets and people 2)Travel highlights 3)Higher quality images. See the image below.
“Allow Facebook to suggest high-quality, ready-made stories for you using advanced photo and video data, including image quality, location, the presence of people or animals.” Scary! Social Media Today makes a comment of “feels a little inauthentic” which I couldn’t agree with anymore. Kind of ruins the whole social media trend of 2023 of authenticity. (insert eyeroll) AI is the way to go but this feature I’m excited to experiment with. Facebook doing it’s job and getting users like me engaged.?
To read more have a look at this article:
??Facebook Tests AI Generated Stories Based on Your Previously Shared Images (Social Media Today)
Opinion of the week
‘Snickers are the worst chocolate’
I sit here with a tub of celebrations open which has been storing the least favourite chocolates since about Christmas time. Within the tub are Mars, Twix and Snickers. About 3 Twix’s, 5 Mars and a plethora of Snickers. Chocolate and nut do not belong together as ‘fun’ chocolate. Maybe if you want to be good, it works great for a healthy diet. For example, there’s a dark chocolate and cranberry bar that I buy from Boots (when I want to be healthy) which is delectable! But nuts are not fun so why put them in chocolate?! Not only that but it seems that so many people are allergic to nuts. Did you know that nut allergies are common and affect approximately 1 in 50 children and around 1 in 200 adults in the UK. So let’s just get rid of them! ?