#Newsfeed: Shoppable videos on Instagram Stories have arrived (via a third party); LinkedIn reaches 500 million members; UK Government blocked from accessing Twitter data
Plus why 2016 was the biggest year for the music industry in the past two decades.
Facebook’s aim at increasing editorial credibility continues, with the announcement that it’s testing a new version of related articles appearing underneath linked stories. Similar to the existing implementation of the related article feature, the update means that instead of only showing the relevant content after you read an article, Facebook will now display articles on additional topics popular on Facebook at the time.
Read more from the official Facebook blog post here.
It’s the news Twitter wants least ahead of its quarterly earnings announcement this week – reports of even more censorship on the platform. According to the UK’s Telegraph, Twitter has withdrawn the UK government’s access to key streams of information which help the police and MI5 to identify plots, under plans to stop user data being used for “surveillance”.
Read more about this story here.
While the rollout of Instagram content embedded with links to products for purchase has already been announced by the platform, video company MikMak are now offering a new shoppable video layer with a single URL for Instagram Stories and Snap Ads. Called MikMak Attach, the new feature allows brands to turn social video views into direct sales, without users ever having to leave Instagram or Snapchat.
See the impressive feature in action here.
According to the latest Global Music Report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, 2016 proved to be the year the global music business turned around – showing more growth in than it had in two decades. “Years of investment and innovation have begun to reward an industry that has shifted from adapting to the digital age, to driving it,” chief executive Frances Moore stated.
Read more about the report findings here or read the full report here.
LinkedIn has announced that it’s reached a new milestone of 500 million members – but unlike other networks, that figure if total members as opposed to active users. And in a seperate announcement made by LinkedIn, it was also revealed that the platform has added in ‘Matched Audiences’ – their own variation of retargeting – with website, account and contact targeting options.
Read more about LinkedIn’s user growth here.
- News Feed FYI: New Test With Related Articles [via FB Newsroom]
- How Facebook and GIPHY became friends again [via Mashable]
- Wall Street thinks Twitter’s business is shrinking [via Recode]
- Government ‘blocked’ from accessing Twitter data to help spot terrorist plots [via The Telegraph UK]
- An Instagram bug has been preventing users from disabling their accounts for months [via TechCrunch]
- Brands are testing shoppable videos on Instagram Stories and Snap Ads [via Digiday]
- How To Get Music On Spotify’s Playlists [via Hypebot]
- Global Music Report Shows Biggest Annual Growth in 20 Years — But YouTube Remains a Huge Threat [via Variety]
- Apple delays its Carpool Karaoke series until ‘later this year’ [via The Verge]
- Is Spotify working on a wearable? [via TechCrunch]
- A Melodious Milestone: 25,000 Funded Music Projects [via Kickstarter]
- The NYT brings its news – and a mini crossword – to Snapchat Discover [via TechCrunch]
- LinkedIn Reaches 500 Million Members, Adds ‘Matched Audiences’ for Ad Retargeting [via Social Media Today]
- Understanding the Instagram Algorithm: 7 Key Factors and Why the Algorithm is Great for Marketers [via Buffer Blog]
- Burger King recruits gamers to sell Whoppers to their teammates [via The Next Web]
- What Your Brand Can Learn from the Unicorn Frappuccino’s Social Media Impact [via Simply Measured Blog]
- TRENDING: #FamilyFirst, #YassminAbdelMagied, #IvankaTrump
JADEN JAM: Scientists from the Smithsonian Institution’s Ant Lab have named new species of fungus-farming ant found in the Venezuelan Amazon after Radiohead.