2020 is ALMOST here. With every new year comes changes. Some for the better, some for worse. In the past month a lot of social media changes have come out in the news – changes to TOS, changes to profiles, changes to this, that and the other. Today, I am going to give you a run down of new tools and rules for 2019. Please, pay attention because these will affect you.
Facebook:
New Facebook Pages Cover Photo Policy – This one affects all of us. Starting January 15, Facebook Pages cover photos cannot contain more than 20% text, along with all the other restrictions. Now is the time to take a look at yours and change it if needed.
Facebook Collections Is Coming Back – Seeing how well Pinterest is doing, Facebook is taking another look at Collections. This allows pictures to have a “want” or “collect” button for people to start building Pinterest-like boards on Facebook. There is a lot of potential from a marketing research standpoint, but still plenty of skepticism and speculation on the consumer side.
Charging To Message Beyond Friends?- Facebook is testing an option that will require you to pay $1 to message someone who isn’t a friend. How many of you get those random messages in your “other” folder with marriage proposals or foreign people telling you they like your smile? With this, they would have to pay to send you that message.
Facebook To Launch Changes To Timeline – Facebook is updating the look of your profile. Back are the tabs and gone are the boxes down the right side of your Timeline. Also being tested – a single-stream of posts. I have to say, I like this new look. Of course, I loved the change to Timeline too.
Facebook To Try Video Ads – The Facebook newsfeed is already too noisy, so I hope this does not take. We all still need to be aware this is on the horizon and if it does indeed stay, you will need to figure how this plays into your social media marketing plan.
Updates To Sponsored Tweets – Twitter has updated the targeting with their sponsored tweets.
Download Your Tweets – Now you can download an archive of all of your tweets.
Twitter Joins Nielsen In Creating Social TV Ratings – How many of us already use Twitter when we watch TV? Maybe we follow the hashtag associated with our favorite shows? Now Twitter and Nielsen will be creating social TV ratings to measure this. My guess? WWE will top this – they are blowing the social media engagement during their shows out of the park.
New TOS Takes Effect On January 16 – Instagram announced changes to its Terms of Service and quickly garnered a backlash over some of the policies, one being their use of your photos for any purpose without having to notify or pay you. They listened and adjusted the new TOS. You need to read up and know what is changing because it will affect the way you use Instagram.
YouTube
YouTube Capture Hits The iPhone And iPod Touch. – Now when you record video on your iPhone or iPod touch, you can easily share it on YouTube with their new YouTube Capture app. The great editing tools in this app with help polish your video before you publish it.
Keep up with the Social Solutions Collective to stay ahead of the game. I wish you the best for 2020!
