#Newsfeed: Happy 12th birthday to the first video uploaded on YouTube; Instagram shadowbans explained; Unilever turns tables on influencers with ‘new’ brand
Plus why iHeartMedia could collapse this year.
Love them or hate them, chatbots on Facebook look like they’re here to stay. One standout use of the technology is the new Albert Einstein chatbot – and proves that Facebook can be used as a useful educational tool. Intended to promote National Geographic’s new show Genius, messages from the chatbot feature a constant stream of gifs and pictures from the show, as well as plenty of facts about the man himself.
See the chatbot in action here.
When it comes to community management, the question is often asked about how brands handle trolls (or internet users trying to be a little too funny for that matter). Some may argue that Samsung were asking for trouble with one particular tweet over the weekend, asking fans to share the first photo they took on the new Galaxy S8 – but luckily, the brand had a very cheeky response to one smartarse.
Read the exchange of tweets here.
Whenever accounts experience low engagement, they always look for a reasonable explanation – and Instagram is one of the hardest platforms to try and figure out. Theories for how to beat the algorithm have circulated ever since Instagram moved away from chronologically listing content, and the term “Instagram Shadowban” has been thrown around a lot lately. But what does it actually mean? An Instagram Shadowban is when your hashtags become ‘un-discoverable’ – you can use your hashtags, however you’ll only show up in hashtag feeds of your current followers (and not in the hashtag feed). Many reasons cause a Shadowban, but the top causes are using automated services, surges in activity (such as unfollowing) and broken hashtags.
Read more about this theory here.
Australian musician L-FRESH The LION has been named as Australia’s sole representative among 27 creators named as the inaugural fellows for YouTube’s Creators For Change program. Announced back in September and championed by program ambassadors such as fellow Aussie YouTube star Natalie Tran, Creators For Change is an initiative designed to highlight the world’s forward-thinking creators to “help counter xenophobia, extremism and hate with stories promoting positive change”.
Read more about Creators For Change here.
Unilever has flipped the script on the use of influencers and bloggers, providing products for a new haircare line to be trialled – only the influencers didn’t realise it was the same budget products it already had on shelfs, just with some slick new packaging and a fresh name.
Read more about the Evaus – that’s Suave spelt backwards – activation here.
- Facebook is offering publishers money to create produced video [via Recode]
- How Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Works (and What’s Coming Next) [via Social Media Today]
- Einstein chatbot shows Facebook Messenger’s potential as an educational tool [via The Next Web]
- The Guardian pulls out of Facebook’s Instant Articles and Apple News [via Digiday]
- Samsung brutally takes down cheeky customer on Twitter [via The Sun]
- Twitter has a spam bot problem — and it’s getting worse [via ZDNet]
- What is an Instagram shadowban, and have you been impacted? [via Plann]
- Instagram bait: Why Starbucks put a unicorn meme on its menu [via Mashable]
- Anthony ‘DJ Albo’ Albanese gives Polish Club a spin for Record Store Day [via tone Deaf]
- iHeartMedia admits it could collapse this year under $20 billion debt [via Music Business Worldwide]
- L-FRESH The LION Named As Australia’s YouTube ‘Creators For Change’ Program Fellow [via The Music.com.au]
- Chance The Rapper Finds a Way to Stop Fake T-Shirts [via Digital Music News]
- It’s been exactly 12 years since the first video was uploaded on YouTube [via Metro UK]
- YouTube says it fixed the problem with Restricted Mode that was filtering LGBTQ+ content [via TechCrunch]
- LinkedIn Brings Back ‘Most Recent’ Option for Feed, Adds Read Receipts for Messages [via Social Media Today]
- Snap reportedly buys geofilter patent that could protect it against Facebook [via The Verge]
- Unilever Turns Tables on Influencers With ‘New’ Hair Care Brand [via AdAge]
- Abandoning browser tabs is the best choice I’ve made for my productivity [via The Next Web]
- TRENDING:
#ElClasico,#SamuelJohnson, #SophieMonk
JADEN JAM: Rihanna celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s birthday – yes, you read that correctly – by photoshopping her into iconic Rihanna outfits.