Social Media News - 28 March 2016

Here’s my take on the latest social media news focussing on new developments on the key social networks. It’s a day later than usual following the Easter Holidays.

You can keep up to date with the latest social media news by watching THE #SocialToday SHOW on Mondays on Facebook Live - just Follow me. The social media landscape is fast shifting with changes happening every day and it can feel like a full time job to keep abreast of the latest trends and new features. So watch, ask and learn about the latest new features with tips on how small business owners plus PR and marketing people can benefit.

The latest THE #SocialToday SHOW video with my take on this week’s social media news can be viewed below:

Oculus - The first consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has been hand delivered by founder Palmer Luckey to Ross Martin in Alaska - watch video. Oculus was acquired by Facebook in March 2014. Consumers who pre-ordered their headset in January will start receiving them from tomorrow.

Facebook - If your uploading videos to your Facebook Page (and if you’re not you should be!) you can now see how they are performing on any particular day with the following metrics - minutes viewed, views (number of views) and 10-second views.

[RUMOUR] - It’s rumoured that new capabilities for Facebook Live will be announced at Facebook’s F8 Developers Conference in April. These will allow broadcast quality video streams through multiple cameras and other studio techniques.

In another move illustrating the importance of video Facebook has introduced a new feature called Profile Videos, which allows users to upload 7 second looping video clips as an alternative to a still profile picture. The video will play for anyone who visits your profile. It is thought that the profile videos will allow the user to show a part of their personality and add a new dimension to the profile.

Periscope - Periscope celebrated its 1st birthday on Saturday 26 March. It’s seen off Meerkat but Facebook Live is providing stiff competition and other big players are launching live streaming services.

Katch - Katch which is a great service for storing Periscope videos and is also one year old, now has a search function making it possible to search through its entire library of videos. You can view all my past THE #SocialToday SHOWs from that have I’ve filmed using Periscope at http://katch.me/intranetfuture. Since 16 March I’ve been using Facebook Live.

YouTube [RUMOUR] - Google is apparently testing a new live streaming service called YouTube Connect with the aim of taking on Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live. But with Periscope a year old and Facebook Live gaining ground is it too late to the party?

Instagram - Following the addition of a search engine to instagram.com notifications have now been added to the Instagram website. You can now view likes, new followers, mentions, comments and friends who have recently joined Instagram.

Twitter [RUMOUR] - Twitter is testing a new product called Twitter Stickers, which will let users edit their photos before and add decals and overlays to them before they are uploaded. It appears to be similar to the Twitter Camera feature, which has been available to verified users since January.

Number of the week - My number of the week is 777. Following a survey of marketing campaigns by Appboy it was found that emoji usage has rapidly increased by 777% year-over-year.

THE #SocialToday SHOW on Facebook Live video will be live again on Wednesday with a top social media tip so Follow me on Facebook and do tune in.

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