Happy Friday and welcome back to your weekly dose of digital marketing – The Weekly Download! On today’s agenda:
Instagram’s pronoun-friendly update, Facebook’s latest feature to curb the sharing of misinformation, Clubhouse launches on Android, Twitter’s new look, and Friday Fun.
Instagram Update Allows Users to Add Their Pronouns to Their Profiles
A new update from Instagram this week makes it easier for users to share their defined pronouns with others.
Add pronouns to your profile ✨
The new field is available in a few countries, with plans for more. pic.twitter.com/02HNSqc04R
— Instagram (@instagram) May 11, 2021
Users can add up to four pronouns to their profiles, and choose whether it is displayed to all users across the app, or friends only. For now, the update is available in “a few countries” according to Instagram, with plans to roll out further in the future.
Instagram isn’t the first social media platform to adopt the function, and we’re sure it won’t be the last.
Have you added your pronouns to your Instagram account? Here’s how to do it.
Facebook Introduces New User Prompts Before Sharing to Limit Misinformation
Facebook is all about sharing, but it’s no surprise that the platform’s had its fair share of issues with misinformation.
In a new effort to curb the spread of false facts, Facebook will start testing a new feature that will nudge users to actually read an article before they share it. According to Mashable, if users try to share a news article link that they haven’t opened, Facebook will show a prompt encouraging them to open it and read it.
Starting today, we’re testing a way to promote more informed sharing of news articles. If you go to share a news article link you haven’t opened, we’ll show a prompt encouraging you to open it and read it, before sharing it with others. pic.twitter.com/brlMnlg6Qg
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) May 10, 2021
While a user will still be able to share the article if they haven’t read it, Facebook hopes that it will make users think twice before posting.
Android Users, Rejoice! Clubhouse Has Arrived (But There’s a Catch)
Up until now, Clubhouse has been seen as an exclusive invite-only app for iPhone users, but an announcement from the company this week has Android aficionados excited to check things out for themselves.
Starting this week, Android users can download the app from the Google Play store – but only if they live in the U.S.
Clubhouse plans to start there and expand to other English speaking countries gradually, and then the rest of the world.
Twitter Unveils New Larger Image Display in Timelines to All Users on Android and iOS
Last week Twitter rolled out a new update that will ensure images in a user’s timeline will look exactly as they do in the Tweet composer.
A new kind of surprise: show off more of your pic when you Tweet a single image.
Now available to everyone on Android and iOS –– how your image looks in the Tweet composer is how it will look on the timeline. https://t.co/GTD4JGVXmY pic.twitter.com/u5X2kc8dzO
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 5, 2021
Rather than cropping the image, the full size will appear directly in a user’s timeline, ensuring followers get the full effect as they scroll along.
For digital marketers, there are a few implications. Gone are the days of having to calculate where to place text or image focal points to ensure they fit the cropped result. In fact, here are the specifics:
Images with 2:1 and 3:4 aspect ratios will show in full.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 5, 2021
But some have wondered if engagement rates will slightly decrease now that users no longer have to click to open a tweet to see an image in full. It’s something we’ll be keeping in mind for our clients.
Friday Fun
Are you a Friends fan? Good news: you won’t have to wait much longer for this highly anticipated reunion!
