Blog / 5 Jul 2017

#Newsfeed: Facebook defends free speech by fighting court gag order; YouTube losing ground on subscription music streaming; Ticketmaster to kill long ticket-scanning queues with audio data

Plus why Twitter is a marathon, not a sprint.

Facebook is challenging a gag order from a U.S. court that is preventing the company from talking about three government search warrants that it said pose a threat to freedom of speech. Facebook said it wants to notify three users about the search warrants seeking their communications and information, and also give those users an opportunity to object to the warrants – however the precise nature of the government’s investigation is not known.

Read more about this story here.

In an opinion piece for Adweek, one digital agency executive has suggested that Twitter stopped being a 140-character-only platform long ago, and instead has turned into a marathon for brands, with plenty of opportunities. “Many brands haven’t cracked the Twitter code yet, but much of the reason lies in their off-the-cuff strategies for it,” vice president of partnerships at digital agency Possible Justin Marshall explained in his article. But Marshall goes on to argue that Twitter offers the best opportunity for brands in social media today. “People come to the platform in discovery mode, looking to learn what’s happening in the world. Once there, they’re open and receptive to everyone, including brands.”

Read his data-packed opinion piece in full here.

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A small study conducted by Notre Dame University researcher Carmen Papaluca has found that anxiety caused by social media in not isolated to high school students, but it also impacts those attending university. More than 50 university students aged between 18 and 25 were presented with a range of fitness, beauty, nutrition, health, travel and work images, and found that reactions differed depending on age. “Instagram has a responsibility to minimise any potential harm incurred by its users – this involves banning particular hashtags like #thinspiration and providing links to seek help if individuals are experiencing any form of mental health issues,” Papaluca stated.