Monday Morning Learning – 18 August 2020

Published on 20 Aug '20

Instagram Looks to Crackdown on Bots with New Review and ID Process

Instagram is making a new push to stamp out bot accounts via a new process that will require the owners of profiles found to be connected with suspicious behaviour to provide identification information to confirm that they are, in fact, a real person.

When the majority of the profile’s followers are in a different country to their location. If there are clear signs of automation use, such as bot accounts as followers. Accounts engaged in coordinated inauthentic behaviour.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-looks-to-crackdown-on-bots-with-new-review-and-id-process/583491/

Instagram Tests Reels Button on Lower Function Bar in Some Regions

Today, several German Instagram users have reported seeing a new layout in Instagram, which puts a new Reels button on the bottom function bar and moves the Discover magnifying glass to the top, next to the Direct tab.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/instagram-tests-reels-button-on-lower-function-bar-in-some-regions/583436/

Facebook Tests TikTok-Like Short-Form Video Feed in its Main App with Indian Users

You can upload videos up to 26 seconds. Videos longer than can be trimmed manually. You can write custom text on videos and choose at what time should the text appear. This is currently tested in the Indian market.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-tests-tiktok-like-short-form-video-feed-in-its-main-app-with-india/583592/

Facebook Adds New Page Follow Setting to Control Which Updates You See

Facebook is looking to give users more control over the specific posts and updates they see from each Page they choose to follow, with a new listing of advanced Page follow options appearing for some users. Users can now follow either all updates from the Page or a selection of:

Posts – Highlights, all updates or none

Videos – Highlights, all or none

Live Videos – All or none

Offers – Option to switch offer posts on or off

That means that, technically, a user could choose to follow a Page and only get alerts about, say, any new offers they post.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-page-follow-settings-to-control-which-updates-you-see/583584/

Facebook Removes Over 1,000 Ad Targeting Options Due to Low Usage

There is not currently a list of the removed options (Facebook provides these examples of the targeting options being removed: removing ‘multicultural affinity’ segments and ‘military bases or regiments’), but if you don’t see any more options you used in the past, that might be the reason for it.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-removes-over-1000-ad-targeting-options-due-to-low-usage/583406/

Facebook Adds New Paid Events Options for Businesses and Creators

By combining marketing, payment and live video, paid online events meet the end-to-end needs of businesses. Pages can host events on Facebook Live to reach broad audiences, and we’re testing paid events with Messenger Rooms for more personal and interactive gatherings.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-paid-events-options-for-businesses-and-creators/583580/

Fortnite’s Epic Games-Apple Legal Battle Will Have Big Ramifications

Fortnite’s makers released an Apple parody video almost immediately after the news broke. The short imitates a famous Apple ad from decades ago, advertising the company’s Macintosh computers with the theme of resisting a dystopian society like that of George Orwell’s 1984. Watch the video on Fortnite’s IG.

Source: https://gamerant.com/fortnite-vs-apple-microtransaction-ios-phones-legal-lawsuit/

Apple subject of litigation from Epic Games over its conduct around App Store payments

To reach iOS app users, Apple forces developers to agree to Apple’s unlawful terms contained in its Developer Agreement, including that they use Apple’s InApp Purchase for in-app purchases of in-app content to the exclusion of any alternative solution or third-party payment processor. Further, Section 3.1.3 of Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines unlawfully prohibits developers from “directly or indirectly target[ing] iOS users to use a purchasing method other than in-app purchase”.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/13/21367963/epic-fortnite-legal-complaint-apple-ios-app-store-removal-injunctive-relief

LinkedIn Adds 2 New Alerts, Powered by AI, for Its Sales Navigator

Alerts when someone engages with the page or website. No detail if we are able to streamline tracking at which stage of the funnel the buyer is in.

Alerts are to be made relevant over time.

LinkedIn also added Outreach, a CRM like tool sitting with Sales Navigator that helps see past connections, history of messages, noted and documents shared.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-adds-new-alerts-and-lead-management-options-to-sales-navigator/583427/

LinkedIn Publishes New Guide on How to Make Best Use of its Platform

LinkedIn has published a new guide to help social media managers make the best use of the various tools the platform has to offer, in order to maximize engagement, boost content reach – and ultimately, fuel sales potential through LinkedIn connections.

Source: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/linkedin-publishes-new-guide-on-how-to-make-best-use-of-its-platform/583250/