With regular kids summer camps off the cards this year due to COVID-19, YouTube is offering some online alternatives, while it’s also added a new set of educational resources to help creators maximize their YouTube presence. First off, YouTube has today announced a new #CampYouTube initiative which aims to re-create some of the most popular camp experiences … Read more
With California’s new data-privacy laws going into effect earlier this year (and the six-month grace period for compliance about to come to an end), Facebook is looking to help businesses better manage their obligations under the CCPA by adding a new feature that will limit data usage for Californian residents. As per Facebook: “To support businesses with their compliance efforts, we’re introducing a … Read more
Have you noticed an increase in the number of ads in your Twitter feed of late? At a quick glance, my own Twitter feed now has around one Promoted tweet every six slots or so, and it now updates every time I refresh, when I used to only see ads early in the stream. Twitter … Read more
As explained by Facebook: “Forecast is a place to ask questions and use in-app points to make predictions about the future. All questions are submitted by the community and then moderated for clarity, using Forecast’s moderation guidelines and Facebook’s Community Standards.” That could be where Facebook is looking with its latest app experiment – Forecast enables users to pose questions, … Read more
Instagram has launched an updated listing of eligibility requirements for its shopping tools, which will enable it to open its eCommerce options up to more businesses and individual creators ahead of the broader rollout of its new shop option. As per Instagram: “Whether you are a candle business making a foray into e-commerce, a musician selling merch … Read more
Here’s a quick one – Facebook is updating its color palette options for groups, in order to help users who are color-blind or vision impaired. As you can see in this example, shared by social media expert Matt Navarra, the new color options provide more contrast, making them easier to see for people with varying sight capacity. There’ll … Read more
Facebook-owned WhatsApp is working on new, animated stickers, which would be active within the chat window, and active as you scroll. As reported by Android Police: “The feature showed up in beta v2.20.194.7 and then disappeared in v2.20.194.9. When it’s working, stickers from animated packs are live in the conversation, though they only animate once and stop. … Read more
Google has today announced a change in its approach to user activity data retention, which will see it auto-delete user data after 18 months by default. Could this become the new standard for personal data collection by tech companies? As explained by Google: “Last year we introduced auto-delete controls, which give you the choice to have Google automatically … Read more
Last November, Instagram added a new functionality called ‘Reels’ to its app, made available only to users in Brazil, which largely replicates the key features of TikTok. As you can see here, the Reels video mode enables you to create 15-second, looping video clips, which can be set to music, and spliced together from various … Read more
Last week, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri published a video on his Instagram feed in which he seemed particularly emotional about the #BlackLivesMatter protests across the US. Mosseri, in general, is a pretty calm and collected character, and rarely shows much emotion in his posts and presentations. But it felt like this issue had really hit … Read more