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midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc. midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc.

#MidweekMinute: App Tweaks

Facebook’s playing with swipeable hybrid interfaces & Messenger reabsorption; Insta cracks down on buttcracks; “twttr” (yes) also plays with swipes, and goes darker; I give LinkedIn’s newest feature an “angry face” emoji.

Now that we’ve all recovered from the FB/Insta/WhatsApp outage (honestly, I didn’t even notice it - I must have been busy on Twitter that day - or even IRL (gasp!)…

Facebook is experimenting with a few changes to the user experience. First up, they’re considering merging the newsfeed and Story feed into a single side-swipe interface (in a continued effort to get you to actually use stories on Facebook). They’re also testing bringing Messenger back into its main Facebook app, instead of forcing you to open the separate Messenger app to read messages on mobile. (That’s not the only change for Messenger - they’re also discontinuing Messenger Scan Codes.)

Instagram, meanwhile, is tinkering with their algorithm to demote content deemed “inappropriate” - sparking debate over what exactly that means. (Fewer belfies?)

Twitter is playing with a whole bunch of app changes in its new twttr experimental app (available by application only); they’re playing with swipe gestures (swipe to like!), improved conversation-thread tools (identifying authors, nesting original tweet context into replies), and creating a “true black” dark mode to save battery on mobile devices.

LinkedIn continues their march away from professionalism and into “social media” by adding reactions (and more photo stickers).

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midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc. midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc.

#MidweekMinute: Don't freak out about Facebook

Facebook's infamous algorithm reprioritizes people over brands; simplifying Messenger; Facebook "Today In" app; Snapchat's unpopular redesign.

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midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc. midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc.

#MidweekMinute: Fighting Snapchat & killing Storify

Facebook adds new features, kills an old one, and resurrects yet another oldie-but-goodie; Instagram introduces a new app and a new function; Tinder gets personal; Tweetstorms & Twitter videos get a boost.

Facebook adds video music library, AR for Messenger, and tries to resurrect the Poke, while quietly removing the ticker feed (who knew that was still even a thing?); Instagram takes messaging out of the app with Direct, and also now lets you follow hashtags; Tinder will be showing your matches your Insta & Spotify activity (if you let it); Twitter Threads kills Storify, while the platform will also now let you view counts on public videos.

Facebook Sound Collection

Facebook Sound Collection lets you add no-name music to videos(TechCrunch)

Facebook adds a sound and music library you can use for video (Engadget)

Facebook offers free music and sound effects for video makers (The Next Web)

Facebook AR in Messenger

Sorry, Snapchat: Facebook just unleashed its own 'dancing hot dog' studio (Mashable)

Facebook Messenger adds Snapchat-style AR objects (Engadget)

Facebook Removes Ticker

Facebook Removes Ticker News Feed For Monitoring Friends’ Activity (Search Engine Journal)

Facebook's Ticker that showed your friends' activities has been removed (Tech Spot)

Facebook's 'ticker,' aka creeper feed, is no more (Engadget)

Facebook Resurrecting the Poke

Facebook is trying to make the Poke happen again (TechCrunch)

Is Facebook bringing the poke back? One-click greetings are in testing (Digital Trends)

Instagram Direct

Instagram is testing Direct, a standalone messaging app that replaces the current inbox (The Verge)

Instagram Tests Standalone Direct Message App (Geek.com)

Instagram is reportedly separating Direct messages into its own separate, Snapchat-like app (Business Insider)

Instagram letting you follow hashtags

Radical New Instagram Hashtag Update Is a Real Game Changer (Forbes)

Instagram becomes an interest network with hashtag following (TechCrunch)

Tinder showing your online activity to matches

Tinder is testing a feed of real-time updates from your matches, including posts from Instagram and Spotify (TechCrunch)

Tinder is testing a chronological feed of your matches’ profile updates and Instagram posts (The Verge)

Twitter Threads kills Storify

Twitter will now let you publish an entire tweetstorm all at once (Recode)

Twitter adds thread tools to help you craft epic tweetstorms (Engadget)

Twitter Makes It Easier to Compose and Read Threads (Variety)

Twitter Just Made the Tweetstorm a Real Thing (Slate)

Twitter Will Show View Counts on Public Videos

Twitter Starts Showing How Many Views Videos Get On Its Platform (AdAge)

Twitter Will Finally Display View Counts On Video Tweets(Tubefilter)

Twitter Makes View Count on Videos Public (TheVideoInk)

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midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc. midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc.

#MidweekMinute: New YouTube & LinkedIn developments; new follows on FB & Insta

New YouTube & LinkedIn developments; new follows on FB & Insta

YouTube introduces video sharing & messaging for app, and new ad formats for TV. LinkedIn continues to aggressively develop its capacity as a business tool, providing services beyond interpersonal connections. Facebook hasn't let you go live via Camera for some reason, but it will now... oh, and Donald Trump is also releasing his "Real News" show on that platform, too (I've got your FB news right here...). Finally, Apple is finally using Instagram to showcase photos taken on iPhones (which sounds an awful lot like my account, but I digress).

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midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc. midweekminute Christine Gritmon Inc.

#MidweekMinute 7/19/17: Alexa, let's chat

Three major players are dipping their toes into new formats.

In this week's social media headlines, three major players are dipping their toes into new formats:
Amazon is entering the messaging arena with development of a new app called Anytime.
Facebook takes the popularity of its new GIF feature to the natural next step: enabling users to create their own looping videos.
And LinkedIn is releasing auto-play video posts (FINALLY!).

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