By: Julia Robinson Source: Free PNG Logos TikTok was launched in 2017 after Musical.ly the app was discontinued. TikTok ended up gaining popularity quite fast due to the large following its similar predecessor Musical.ly experienced. “The Musica.ly connection is key to understanding the TikTok platform, since the app rose to popularity with users posting short lip-synch videos and offering a community of users tackling trending songs” (PR Daily). Over time, TikTok has become one of the most used apps in recent years. Source: Oberlo Statistics
There are a few specific factors that have led to TikTok’s immense success. One factor is Generation Z’s tech-savvy skills and how Gen Zers have grown up with similar apps, creating a familiarity with TikTok. TikTok’s user demographic in terms of age ranges from 16-24, and Gen Z is right in the middle that. Another aspect that has helped TikTok grow is its song association. Within the past few months, I have heard people say, “This is a TikTok song,” due to its repetition on the app. By connecting certain trends whether it be a song or a dance with the app, people will only think of TikTok when that sound is played, growing the app’s influence. When compared to other apps, TikTok differentiates itself by providing an outlet for teens and young adults to express themselves. “Properties like TikTok are supporting and creating new forms of self-expression, and brands want to tap into that,” Williamson said. “It’s an experiment for many marketers. In many ways, TikTok is where Facebook was in the late 2000s, and where Snapchat was three or four years ago” (eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson). TikTok separates itself by giving its users the ability to create trends that most often happen naturally. Anyone can create a trend, end up on the “for you page” and dance in front of their phone camera. According to Data Reportal, TikTok has 500 million users worldwide, placing it 9th among social network sites. Its competitors include YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram, some of the most used social media networks. The availability and relatability of the app make it very attractive to users. If people cannot relate to a platform, what is the point of the app’s existence? TikTok has created an empire of both creative expression and entertainment, expanding itself into the hands of millions of teens. What will be the next TikTok?
16 Comments
By: Isabel Mayoras Everyone is still reeling over the newest Snapchat update. For those of you lucky people out there who haven’t yet been forced into this new format I’ll explain the frustration. Instead of keeping your Snapchat stories on one side of the camera and your sent and received Snapchats on the other, they’re intermixed. This has caused an uproar amongst Snapchat users and studies show that 80% of all Tweets about Snapchat are negative. The main complaint amongst Snapchatters is that it has caused people to send a Snapchat to someone they didn’t intend to because people who have just added to their story go to the top of your feed along with those who have sent you a photo. This frustration has not gone unnoticed by Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel although he has made it perfectly clear that he is not going to change back to the old format. Plenty of Tweets have been posted about how many retweets it would take to get Snapchat to change but they have all been debunked. Sadly, things aren’t looking up for the app and its users unless a change is implemented. Source: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/920239/Snapchat-update-redesign-Instagram-Stories-2018-new-design-old-version-revert By: Sydney Nelson One of the largest trends in social media today is the creation of “Stories”, which is a feature that compiles a slideshow of the things you have done throughout any given day. This trend began with Snapchat and brought huge success. Instagram quickly hopped on the bandwagon and made a feature on their app also called “Stories”. YouTube wasn’t so quick to act, however last week on November 29th, they announced that they will now be launching “Reels”. YouTube’s senior product manager, Roy Livne, claimed that “Reels” will essentially be the same thing as “Stories”, however they will be designed specifically for YouTube creators. Reels are unique to YouTube because they will be available to view beyond the 24 hour time limit, unlike the Snapchat and Instagram feature. Reels will also link YouTube videos and “YouTube-y” stickers to “Stories.” After Snapchat and Instagram had huge successes, YouTube is also expecting Reels to become a huge hit. By: Tyler Madsen Many of us may have already seen the numerous “fire” tweets posted by popular fast food chain restaurant Wendy’s. Wendy’s is a company that immediately pops into people’s head when talking about brand awareness thru social media. They put a comedic twist into their tweets towards other company’s while subtly hinting at other competitor’s flaws. The following tweet is one of their more recent viral roasts towards McDonalds: The article hints at just how powerful social media is by using the example of Carter Wilkerson who tweeted at Wendy’s asking how many retweets he’d need to get free chicken nuggets for a year. 3.6 million retweets later Carter got his wish. This was a great use of social media by Wendy’s to extend their brand awareness. This moment is something that will remain in potential customers heads the next time they are selecting a place to eat. With social media, Wendy’s says they receive about 10,000 mentions a week that are being replied to by the customer relations team of about 16 employees. This is a prime example of how the public relations field is growing and including larger range of mediums than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20171124/wendys-embraces-social-media-to-connect-with-learn-about-customers By: Mary Claire Reagan Relevant in today’s society, companies view their product as a direct reflection of who they are as an institution and organization. Twitter, is just one of the many companies that embodies this theory and is now changing its product to match their own company’s character. In the past, Twitter would often verify, or put a blue check mark, next to well known, individual accounts to signify that that was a main account rather than a spoof account. This served as a way to decipher between a LeBron James fan page and LeBron James’ own personal twitter account. However, Twitter has now shifted its guidelines in that only accounts that comply to company rules will be verified. This is one way the company is taking steps to protect the companies own values and reflect who they are on the internet, rather than “verifying” accounts that are not consistent with their own mantras. In order to make this change, Twitter is now “reviewing” twitter accounts and debating whether they accounts verifiable. By: Kayla Speros News is taking a new way of travel in our media driven society. Social media is taking over the industry which newspapers and TV used to dominate. It is no longer just the obvious forms of social media like Facebook, but has even made its way to Snapchat. Recode.net says that President Donald Trump plays a big role in the switch. I’m sure we all know how social media “obsessed” President Trump is. We’ve all heard about the tweets! He doesn’t make them easy to miss. This has brought Twitter up to the third most used social media cite to gather news from. The Pew Research Center says that it’s not even the younger generation alone. 55 percent of Americans 50 or older say they get at least some of their news from social media. Social media is giving us a new, easy, accessible way to get news. That seems great right? And it is! For the most part. Social media has made it just as easy to share news as it is to receive it. This gives everyone a platform to share whatever they want to share. Even if it isn’t necessarily true. Just something to keep in mind while scrolling though all the new political drama. Sources: https://www.recode.net/2017/9/7/16270900/social-media-news-americans-facebook-twitter https://jonathangreye.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/3059718-poster-p-1-heres-how-to-use-social-media-at-each-stage-of-your-career.jpg By: Kiley Harris Social media is becoming one of the most important media outlets for companies and their branding strategies. A recent article from PR Week discussed a study done by Kantar Millward Brown and the University of Oxford’s business school that looked into the importance social medial. This study discovered that campaigns that were run on Facebook and Instagram had a positive influence on consumer attitudes towards brands. Some had negative effects, but regardless, there was always some sort of influence. This is important for PR majors to understand since social media will always have some sort of impact, and because it is so constant and relevant today. PR professionals can learn from this study how to use to social media to their benefit. They can also learn why some campaigns do not work, in order to avoid these mistakes in the future. PR students still in school should strive to gain social media experience for their resume, or to take social media classes in order to put themselves ahead of others and stand out in the job market. There is a social media class available (MAC 325) to Miami students, that would be a great resource to take advantage of. Young college students already have a good knowledge base of social media, so using this skill to their advantage and building upon it is a great use of time. This study also found that when it comes to branding and social media, campaigns that were more personable had a greater effect on brand awareness and consumer attitudes. This means that digital ads are worth it, but being able to tell a story and be personable is still an important skill set to have, which is important for students searching for jobs to understand. Social media advertising, according to this article, is definitely worth it, but implementing it is specific to each brand and should be experimented with. Since this is such an important medium, gaining experience with social media advertising is a great idea for students hoping to work in PR in the future. By: Hannah Banas When Twitter first launched in 2006, it started gaining exponential popularity. It was a huge success with young people because it was a new and innovative way to communicate with friends. However, as years have passed, CEOs and business owners have started to use Twitter to promote their companies. It seems that as more companies are now tweeting than individuals. Even though people seem to be tweeting less, it is still a viable advertising technique for companies for these reasons. 1. Easy communication with customers People like being able to reach out to a company with ease to give them feedback and ask questions. The easier it is for a customer to connect with a company, the more satisfied they will be. Twitter allows for this quick interaction, so all companies should take advantage. 2. Spread the Word Quickly Twitter allows companies to spread their product or service to people who would otherwise not know about it. It is a cheap and easy way for companies to connect with possible new customers. 3. Free Analytics Since Twitter does not cost companies anything, unless they want their ads to be further up on peoples’ feeds, companies get information on reactions to their ads. They can see whether people like the product based on how many likes and favorites the Tweet gets. By: Sydney Nelson On October 24th, Twitter announced that they will be launching a new “Advertising Transparency Center” in the coming weeks. This Transparency Center will display all ads that are currently running on Twitter, how long ads having been running, creative content associated with the ads, and which ads are targeted to you and why. Additionally, users will be able to report inappropriate ads or give negative feedback if they feel a certain ad doesn’t pertain to them. In conjunction with the new technologies for general ads, Twitter’s Transparency Center places a huge emphasis on political ads. In this section of the center, users will be able to see all currently running political ads and ads that have run in the past, transparency about the identity of the organization funding the campaign, targeting demographics (age, gender, geography), and historical data about the ad. This need for a transparency center in regards to political ads was likely established in response to the 2016 election in which Russians bought advertisements that interfered with the U.S. election. By: Lindsey Nelson
As an extremely swamped college student, it can be hard to stay in the loop with news outside of your busy schedule or the tiny college town of Oxford. But as students interested in the Public Relations world, it could not be more important, and is a good habit to get into while you’re young. Here are 3 quick ways for busy students to stay in-the-know: The Skimm The Daily Skimm is a daily newsletter that Miami University students can sign-up to receive an emails breaking down recent events in government, sports, Hollywood, etc. Their main goal is to give their readers short blurbs that get to the point, so the subscribers are not bombarded with unnecessary information. It will only inform you of the most relevant news, with a wide variety of topics so readers can impress their friends with new facts daily. Most people think Twitter is just a platform for celebrities and following friends, but it is a perfect place to receive news and companies. Every major network is always updating their account with breaking news updates, before it can hit actual TV-news. Even if you do not follow news accounts, you are bound find current events updates from your friends liking or retweeting them. Or if you want to find news on something specific, the search feature is an awesome device to type in key words and instantly say what the world is saying about it. Snapchat Who would have thought that Snapchat would turn into a news outlet? With being one of the biggest social media apps out there, it is one of the easiest ways for college kids to quickly access different news sites of their choice. Daily Mail, People BuzzFeed, and ESPN are just a few of the channels that are provided. By: Kendall Cree In this day and age, companies are branching out to many different platforms in order to reach their demographics. J-Crew has decided to take their marketing in a completely new way and placing their catalog exclusively on Pinterest. Pinterest as a platform has been on an upward climb in popularity, predominantly for young women and Midwestern women, a very hard-to-reach demographic. Major brands, in this case J-Crew, are finding new visual-based social networking in order to reach their buyers, as well as finding new buyers. In order to defy the norm, J-Crew debuted their September looks on their official Pinterest page in addition to their traditional print catalog. In addition to giving J-crew shoppers a new way of shopping, it makes shopping a “social experience”. Consumers can now share their pieces on their Pinterest accounts and let friends and families see their interests in the collection. This new initiative caught the business world by surprise and is creating major buzz. The real question is, how soon until other brands follow along and start adapting similar marketing promotion ideas through social media platforms? Sources: https://thrivehive.com/paving-way-businesses-pinterest-jcrew-debuts-fall/ http://jcrew.com By: Alyssa McKoy Let’s face it, everyone is on social media. Whether it is for entertaining Snapchat filters or connecting with friends on Facebook, there is a wide range of people that use these platforms every day. Some people use social media as their main source for news. Society has moved away from hardcopy news and has incorporated digital media into their everyday lives. But, is this the right thing to do? Social media has the power to bring about news and trends, create and share ideas through various websites, and to influence other’s opinion. Because everyone is able to publish something on a social media platform, it is harder to know what is credible and what is not. Anyone can post an article or a picture just to reach public attention. Are we sure the information that is being posted is coming from a credible source, or are we so used to believing the first thing we see or read? With various opinions and comments floating around on social media, we see a wide range of biased knowledge. It is easy for readers to feed into these arguments and create conflict with no prior knowledge. Some could easily jump into the argument and gather information that may not be accurate, and present it to their peers, therefore spreading inaccurate information. Yes, social media is a fast and efficient way to get things out in the open, but it is only helpful if the news is accurate. Many people can repost and share information, but how do we know to trust that information or know if it is reliable? Next time you read an article or repost a picture, make sure that you are checking to see if it is credible. By: Grace Wells It’s no doubt that in this day in age social media is making its mark on the professional field. With such a wide range of tools at our disposal, how can we best get our message out in the world? Social media allows us to form this connection with consumers. This visual network can be used to promote events. Creative eye-catching pictures combined with catchy hashtags can draw people in by leaving the audience with something to talk about. You can celebrate milestones or promote awareness for sales or discounts to gain exposure. Great network to publicize news, blog posts and even videos. You can even live tweet from the event using a hashtag created just for the occasion. Retweeting what others have said about your company is a way to attain credibility. Snapchat Give viewers something to look forward to with sneak peaks posted in the story of your upcoming product. Brand your platform specifically for your target audience and even have a special snapchat filter or location tag for your big events. Promote awareness for social issues on the platform to get your message out into the public eye. By: Kaya Speros Advertisements have taken on an entirely new role as of the past few years. Instead of hoping to reach the desired audience and attain the needed sales goals through TV commercials or print, social media has made advertising a much more prevalent part of our everyday lives. You want to reach a mass audience? All you have to do is post on your social media account and boom, 1,000 people see it within 24 hours. Companies have adopted this idea and developed the role of Brand Ambassadors. A Brand Ambassador is generally someone hand-picked by the brand who embodies the imagine they want to portray to the public. That individual then instantly becomes an advertiser for the company. Social media has made it possible for brands to constantly have their products in your feeds. If you are a retail store and your target audience is young girls, what better way to engage them than with someone they can relate to? Someone they look up to within their own group! According to oncampusadvertising.com, people are four times more likely to make a purchase if referred to by a friend. Brand Ambassadors are successfully bringing the brand to the level of their audience through people they trust. By Sarah Emery (@sarahemery1995) I would consider myself a Twitter aficionado. I’ve even been granted access to 280 characters, although I spend the majority of my time on Twitter reading and learning from what others have to say than posting my own content (unless it’s about my love for desserts). Here are four Twitter accounts any up-and-coming PR professional HAS to follow: 1. @APStylebook Whether you love it or hate it, AP Style is here to stay in the media world. The AP Stylebook Twitter account is highly active and the weekly #APStyleChat will update you on everything from fake news to punctuation 2. @PRNews PR News calls itself the “hub for communicators,” and I’d definitely agree! The account has a healthy mix of top headlines, communication tips and media trends and is a great way to see the world from a PR professional’s perspective. 3. @Hootsuite A strong understanding of social media and digital marketing is paramount for the 21st century PR professional. With informative infographics and links, I find myself bookmarking Hootsuite’s content all the time! 4. @PRWeekUS If you’re still hungry for PR-related posts after reading our blog, make sure to follow PRWeek US for trending stories about successes and snafus throughout the public relations universe.
After following these great accounts, make sure you’re following @miamiohPRSSA to stay up-to-date on what we’re doing! Happy Tweeting and Reading! By: Claire Bowman Have you ever crafted the perfect tweet, but then you’re suddenly forced to delete an apostrophe or abbreviate a word to fit Twitter’s 140-count limit? Well, those painful days are over, as long as you can contain yourself to 280 characters from now on. Recently, social media giant Twitter has upped its character limits for tweets, making some excited and leaving others wondering why. Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, tweeted about the change as a problem solver and said it would still maintain the social platform’s “brevity, speed, and essence.” There has been some speculation that this change will also attract older users. Because these users are usually more active on Facebook where they have no limit on what they can post, this increase in limitations may make Twitter more appealing to them. If this is the case, companies who heavily use Twitter to advertise may need to think about changing up their game plans. For a platform that has seen most of its popularity with a younger crowd, marketing has been largely targeted for them. So if the audience starts to change, public relations teams will likely need to alter their strategies if they want to appeal to multiple groups. Lastly, it will be interesting to see if companies start to take advantage of more characters. When it comes to advertising, shorter typically means sweeter, so it may be beneficial to focus on changing up content instead of length. By: Alyssa McKoy It’s clear that social media has taken a huge turn in recent times. In the Public Relations and Marketing industry, it is more important than ever! You may think that your Instagram is just for your friends to see and like your pictures, or Twitter is just to tweet about how your day went, but these platforms can actually be used for a variety of reasons. I’m here to tell you a few of the most important reasons that social media is used today. 1. Everybody is on it Whether it’s Facebook or Snapchat, there is a wide range of people that use social media in their everyday lives. In fact, studies show that one in every five minutes spent online is on at least one social network. This means that potential employers, clients or customers are everyday users of social media. 2. A tool for marketers and PR professionals Let’s face it, you see the newest products on one of the many forms of social media. Well, that’s because marketers and public relation professionals use these platforms to their advantage. They specifically target their audience in order to increase their brand’s reputation and customer relations. According to growthgurus.com, 78% of small businesses use social media to attract new customers. 3. A new way to access news Because social media can spread vital information so rapidly, the ability to reach current news is easier than ever. Each of the platforms have their own “spin” on how their users can see current events. Whether it’s snapchat’s “featured stories” or Twitter’s “Moments”, we see a whole new way to gather news. Rather than waiting on a story to be released on television, information can be publicized at the simple touch of a button. By: Isabel Mayoras Most people at some point think to themselves “my Tweets are so creative and unique I don’t know why I don’t get more retweets/likes?”, I know I have! We all see friends of ours who get a lot of Twitter interactions, and we wonder what they’re doing right. I’m here to tell you exactly what it is they’re doing, and how you can adopt those techniques for yourself! 1. Optimize your Twitter’s look People are very drawn to aesthetics. That being said, the first things your potential followers see are your profile photo, your header photo, and your bio. 2. Be #Searchable Hashtags may seem “lame” because it shows you’re trying to promote your Twitter, but it actually really helps! Doing it in silly ways that still make your tweet funny without begging for attention are key. 3. Be Relatable People love when a tweet describes themselves to a tee. Make sure your tweets aren’t too “you specific” and instead talk about daily struggles that many people can relate to! 4. Keep it Straight and to The Point! Most people on Twitter aren’t trying to read an entire 140-character tweet because that’s too much work. The best tweets are short and sweet but still get your point across. 5. Use Visual Aids Images and videos are widely popular on Twitter, even if they aren’t YOUR photo! There’s a reason Twitter has a feature that lets you search gifs while you’re writing your tweet… because they make the tweet better!!! Don’t be afraid to search for a gif that provides a visual representation of your tweet! Photo Source: http://blog.nycdatascience.com/student-works/twitter-scraping/ By: Chloe Tykal As a future public relations professional, being a good writer is a large part of your job. Nobody can just jump on their computer and crank out an amazing press release in 10 minutes without practicing, either. Even the best PR execs in the industry had to start somewhere. Luckily, we live in an age where anyone can write and publish their own material. There is no better way to hone your writing skills than to start a blog. It can be about anything, all that matters is that you are consistently practicing your writing and putting material out there. To start, think of something that interests you (it doesn’t have to be PR related at all). If you love fashion, start a fashion blog. If you love cooking, share your recipes. Once you have a basic idea, get a little creative. Find the thing that’s going to set your blog apart from the others. There are a ton of platforms for blogging that are easy to use and free. Check out sites like Weebly, Wordpress, or Tumblr and see which one fits your idea best. They also often have templates that make designing your page easy if that’s not your thing. Any blog can look well-polished and professional with zero web design skills needed. Coming up with a name can be tricky, but try to make it reflect your theme. Also stay away from naming it something directly with your name (aka don’t name your food blog Carol’s Recipes). Since you most likely aren’t a celebrity, name recognition isn’t going to mean a lot and can often sound hokey. Once you have have your site all planned out, it’s time to start creating content. Start out by challenging yourself to post once or twice a week. If you know that you’re busy, sit down when you have time and crank out a few posts at once, then save them and publish them slowly. This is your time to really develop your voice and become comfortable with your writing. The more you write, the easier it gets and the more confident you will become in your abilities. Writing and maintaining a blog not only gives you a lot of writing practice, it can give you a portfolio of your work that you can forward to future employers. Often, they will request a writing sample with your resume and your blog can act as an archive of your work. Blogging can be a key tool for PR professionals. Learning the ins and outs of the industry early on can be a benefit just as important as improved writing skills. By: Chloe Tykal For years, your Twitter account has had the same funny, but slightly inappropriate handle. Your profile picture is you in a bikini. Or maybe you’re tagged in some photos after consuming a few too many beers (complete with red solo cup in hand). As the finish line approaches and you realize you have to become a “real adult,” your social media image becomes more important than ever. Your new company isn’t going to care about your following/follower ratio, or how many times a week you post. Before you’re even hired, they’re going to have looked you up and at least done a quick scan of your accounts. It’s time to accept reality and do some online spring cleaning. The first thing to do is make sure that the “outside” of your profile looks good. Set your profile photo to one where you look like someone that people would like to hire. That doesn’t mean it has to be your LinkedIn headshot, just make it one where you look like the type of person it would be nice to work with. Make sure your handle identifies you with your name. As boring as it sounds, it’s time to switch your handle to some combination of your first and last names. It looks professional and is easily identifiable. Digging a little deeper, it’s now time to get to work cleaning up the content on your pages. Delete questionable posts, unlike all of those Facebook pages that you liked in middle school, and untag yourself from those terrible photos. Try to keep your personality on your page. If you’re a comedian at heart, don’t delete all of your funny posts. If you love music, don’t take down the links to playlists and videos that you’ve shared. Instead of making your online presence completely disappear, curate and grow it to something worth remembering. Try to coordinate all branches of your social media. Have them all work together as a single unit. If you write a blog post for your Tumblr, share a related photo on your Instagram, Tweet the link to it, or even tell your Snapchat friends to check it out in your story. Social media is one of the biggest tools PR professionals have. If you can’t manage your own, how can your boss expect you to manage a company’s? By: Rosie Leuby With many great triumphs in life, there will also be moments of failure. There are many different major public relations mistakes that have happened over the years that can teach future public relations practitioners what to be careful of. Here are just a few major mistakes found in public relations practices that one can learn from: 1. McDonald’s on TwitterAs a public relations move, McDonald’s promoted the use of a hashtag, #McDStories, on Twitter. Almost immediately after posting about their promotion, the hashtag was overwhelmed with negative comments about McDonald’s. They pulled the hashtag after only two hours and criticized Twitter users for their “snarky” comments. The lesson to learn here is that one cannot control the conversations on social media, and especially not act all that surprised when people say something that is not nice. 2. Coca-Cola‘s Carton Change One of there products, Tropicana, was getting a new, cleaner-looking design on their cartons, instead of their signature orange with a straw image. It caused the customers to be upset and confused them when they were trying to purchase their favorite orange juice. The uproar caused Coca-Cola to quickly reverse their decision after the fan outcry. The lesson here is to stay true to the brand packaging. 3. Apple’s Steve Job’s Comment When a post to the world, like a comment from Steve Jobs about the iPod being the “funnest” ever, has grammar issues, that message is no longer getting through to consumers as the word choice has distracted them. The lesson to learn here is how no one is immune to grammar mistakes and one should make sure that grammar rules are used correctly. To learn more about public relations mistakes and lessons to learn from it, check out this link: http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2012/05/05/11-major-public-relations-mistakes-and-how-to-learn-from-them/ By: Rosie Leuby It is critical to have a strong knowledge of social media when attempting to land a PR job. You not only need to have a strong resume and crafty customized cover letter, but also a polished, established presence on social media sites. Here are just a few tips:
By: Hannah Saltzman On Friday, Facebook for Ireland and Spain is releasing a trial run of a new emotions feature called "Reactions." Part of the “like” button will now include 6 emojis to represent different emotions. There will be a heart for love, a red angry face for mad, a teary face for sad, a laughing face for laughing out loud, a surprised face for “wow” and a closed-eye smiley face for “yay.” According to Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook constantly gets requests for a “dislike” button. However, Zuckerberg does not want to turn Facebook into a place where people up and down vote a post, so he and his team came up with the reactions feature. Zuckerberg said this new feature will allow people to be sympathetic on Facebook. For example, someone might not feel comfortable liking a sad post so instead you can use the sad reaction button to make your response more appropriate. While they are testing the six different reactions in Ireland and Spain, every user can look out for the “LOL” and “yay” reactions. By: Erin Antonelli On October 12, Facebook announced it would test out a new shopping feature on its site. The feature, called Canvas, will begin testing in select areas of the country. The idea behind Canvas is to cut out the middleman between Facebook and retailers. When users click on in-feed ads they will no longer be directed to the company’s website, but instead be able to purchase directly through Facebook. It also allows for users to browse through other items that the company sells. Currently, there are a limited number of brands. It is mostly larger retailers such as Target and Niemen Marcus. If Canvas is successful, however, the number of retailers could expand. Facebook developed the feature in response to the needs of the user. Many users no longer look at Facebook solely as a place to connect with family and friends. According to Facebook’s research, nearly half the people who visit their sites were actively seeking new products. This feature will meet their needs as well as drive sales for the businesses they are purchasing from. Facebook is not the first social media site to join in the e-commerce game. Both Pinterest and Twitter have seen success with shopping features. Facebook is, however, the largest with around 1.23 billion users. Adding a shopping feature could entice even more users or convince current users to spend more time on the site. By: Allison Haworth Many Snapchat users have probably discovered that the well-known filters that appear when you swipe right on your picture, a recent upgrade to the application, have gotten snappers deforming their face through the use of selfie lenses. In order to get to these new selfie lenses, it is necessary to have the most recent upgrade. To get to the lenses, the Snapchat user must tap and hold on the screen while on the selfie camera view. Eight new lenses will appear on the screen and are ready to be used. This remarkable upgrade to the app has gotten so much attention that it has attracted many new users. Snapchat has been considered one of the top players for social media, and through the development of the new additions; it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. This buzz about the new selfie lenses has created a large progression of publicity. Through all these new filters, companies believe it is a good idea to sponsor themselves via Snapchat. Although this branding doesn’t come with a cheap price, Snapchat is charging millions for an ad on one of their filters during peak seasons. Many Snapchat users don’t mind the ads as long as it provides them with a fun new frame to take a selfie with. So get out there, test out the new Snapchat lenses and get your selfie on! |
Categories
All
Archives
April 2020
|