The Week in Digital 28.10.16
This week: Twitter ditches Vine, Facebook makes some Halloween updates, Unilad live streams from space and Mark Ruffalo promises to appear naked in his next film!
THE END OF VINE
One of the big pieces of news this week is that Twitter have decided to shut down Vine, amidst staff layoffs. Twitter has told users that the app will remain online for the time being and that users will be able to download their videos before the app fully shuts down. Twitter appear to be prioritising Periscope, their livestreaming service, which now needs to compete with the increasingly popular Facebook Live.
LIVE STEAMING SPACE
This week, Unilad used Facebook Live to stream from the International Space Station – or so it seemed.. The stream attracted 19M views and over a million reactions but Nasa has confirmed that, in fact, this wasn’t live footage at all. The footage was old material from between one and three years ago. Nevertheless, it has created some excitement this week and got people interested in Nasa’s actual live stream from space.
HALLOWEEN FACEBOOK UPDATES
In their latest move to compete with Snapchat, Facebook has announced that they will be making some Halloween MSQRD masks available on Facebook Live. Users in the US, UK and New Zealand will be able to use these. There has been some speculation that the next move will be to integrate these masks into Instagram Stories. Facebook is also launching a set of custom Halloween reactions this week.
MASTERCARD’S NEW AI BOT
Mastercard is launching an AI bot to help people manage their finances via platforms like Facebook Messenger. They say the bot will provide a ‘personalised service, seamless user experience and contextual offers and rewards’. According to Marketing Week, however, recent research suggests that 79% of people would prefer human customer interactions to remain part of customer service.
NAKED MARK RUFFALO
Save the Day, a website providing Americans with information on voting, and director Joss Whedon have collaborated on a short video. Featuring actors including Scarlett Johansson, James Franco, Julianne Moore and Don Cheadle, the video urges Americans to vote, suggesting that if they do, Mark Ruffalo will appear naked in his next film.
Contact:
@GoodRelations