#MidweekMinute 3/14/18: Blue checks all around!

Twitter's Jack Dorsey considers verifying ALL actual, human Twitter users, thus changing that little blue check mark from a badge of importance to a mark of authenticity; Facebook pulls data-mining App Lock app, plans to roll out a News for Watch, adds yet another music licensing deal (this time with Warner), rolls out location-based AR experiences, and might be introducing disappearing Messenger massages (a la Snap); Snapchat adds user-generated AR lenses to their filter carousel, adds Instagram-style tagging in stories, and allows branded ads from Explore publishers; Snapchat and Instagram take down GIPHY temporarily after a racist GIF made its way into the library; Instagram's algorithm might be veering more towards the chronological again; Microsoft Pix app scans business cards to automatically add the user to your LinkedIn network; LinkedIn beefs up their business news; Brian Wallace of NowSourcing reports live from his ninth(!) SXSW, which, like social media, has made a noticeable shift from flashiness to actual human interaction & value (I can't wait to go next year!!!).

I'm trying something new this week. Instead of a bunch of links in a blog post, I'm embedding a Flipboard custom magazine into my #MidweekMinute. Let me know if you like this format or the old one better!