The Weekly Download – November 29, 2019

Welcome back! A belated Happy Thanksgiving to our American friends. It’s time to kickstart your Friday with a hearty helping of The Weekly Download. 

Here’s what’s on the agenda today: Instagram’s latest outage, Twitter’s plan to remove inactive accounts and add new conversation features, Pinterest’s small business shop, LinkedIn stats that will help guide your strategy in the new year, and much more. 

Instagram Goes Down (Again)

Yesterday morning, Instagram suffered another outage that caused access issues for users all over the world. The outage didn’t affect all users or the entire app – most issues reported involved the news feed.

People were quick to make jokes on social media – the outage corresponded with American Thanksgiving and people had some (funny) feelings:

Twitter Backtracks on Plan to Remove Inactive Accounts & Usernames

Earlier this week, Twitter announced it would be removing inactive accounts to free up usernames in December. For people eagerly awaiting a new username currently in use (but inactive), it was a welcome update. For friends and families of Twitter users who have passed on, it was concerning.

The announcement led to a lot of confusion, so much so that Twitter decided to pause its plan to remove inactive accounts until it can offer a way to memorialize those belonging to the deceased. The company apologized to users for the “confusion and concerns” it caused and vowed to keep the public updated.

Twitter also clarified that the initiative only affects the European Union – for now. There’s no word on just how many accounts may be affected.

Couples Share How They had “The Talk” to Raise Awareness of World AIDS Day

In support of World AIDS Day on December 1, CATIE has launched a social media campaign featuring a video in which HIV-positive persons and their partners discuss how they had “the talk.” 

The #CantPassItOn campaign features a short video with an important message, and one that’s certainly worth a watch:

According to the UNAIDS Data 2019 report, an estimated 770,000 people worldwide died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2018. There were an estimated 37.9 million people worldwide with HIV in 2018. While we’ve certainly made progress with regard to the national and global response to HIV, there’s much more to achieve. 

Pinterest Launches a Small Business Shop

In preparation for the holiday season, Pinterest has launched a small business shop. The initiative is part of the company’s larger plan to assist users with shopping directly within the platform.

Aptly called “The Pinterest Shop,” the new feature will allow Pinterest users to shop from a curated list of 17 small businesses ahead of Small Business Saturday (November 30). 

The Pinterest Shop will feature hundreds of shoppable “Product Pins”, including grapefruit cardamom body oil from Etta + Billie in San Francisco, leather goods from Fount and more. 

Will you be checking out The Pinterest Shop?

Twitter is Testing New Conversation Features

Have you been following along with Twitter’s prototype app, twttr?

The company has used twttr to test new ways to display conversations, and some of these features are starting to make their way onto Twitter.com, giving the platform a “message board-like” feel.

Initially discovered by noted reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, replies will start to look similar to Reddit’s conversation tree to help users keep track of conversations. 

What do you think about the new look? Do you think it will streamline the responses and replies on the platform?

Considering a New LinkedIn Strategy? Check Out The Top Stats from 2019

Are you starting to think about the changes you’ll make to your web presence in 2020? A new infographic from Social Pilot shares the stats you’ll want to know. 

Some key points:

• 36% of LinkedIn users are between ages 18-29
• Men account for 54% of all LinkedIn users
• Including photos in posts increases your comment rate by 98%
• Posts ending with a question receive 50% more engagement
• 59% of executives polled said they would choose to consume content via video

Get the infographic in full here.

Friday Fun

Eighty-Six-Year Old Marathon Runner Ginette Bedard is an Inspiration to Us All

Ginette Bedard ran her first marathon ever at age sixty-nine and runs ten miles every day. This year, at eighty-six, she ran her seventeenth New York City marathon.

Prepare to be inspired!

E.T. and Elliott Reunite in Xfinity’s New Holiday Ad

Ever wondered what it would be like if E.T. found his way back to earth? The reunion you’ve been waiting for is finally here!