The Weekly Download – September 17, 2021

Welcome back and Happy Friday!

This week in your favourite digital news roundup: Intuit acquires Mailchimp, Instagram’s impact on teens, the company’s new ‘Map Search’ tool and ‘Montage’ feature, plus some Friday Fun!

Let’s get to it!

Intuit Acquires Mailchimp

Global technology platform Intuit recently announced they will be acquiring Mailchimp for a cool $12 billion.

Intuit is the maker of user-friendly financial tools like QuickBooks, TurboTax and Credit Karma, and plans to absorb the successful email marketing platform to further bridge end-to-end customer growth for small to medium-sized businesses.

Combining data, particularly from Mailchimp and QuickBooks, is projected to deliver unique “purchasing data” that will award “actionable insights” for scaling businesses.

“Today, QuickBooks helps more than 7 million small and mid-market businesses get paid fast, access capital, pay their employees and grow in an omni-channel world. Mailchimp’s addition will bring speed and velocity to these efforts, with the acceleration of mid-market expansion opportunities and global growth for both brands,” said Alex Chriss, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Intuit Small Business and Self-Employed Group.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the acquisition may affect clients using Mailchimp.

Internal Research Shows Instagram is Harmful for Teens

Social comparison – the thief of joy.

It’s no secret that social media is often held responsible for the negative impact it has on users – especially for younger audiences.

That’s why it comes as no surprise that a Wall Street Journal report on leaked internal research finds Instagram strains the mental health of many teens – particularly females. In fact, reports showed that one in three teenage girls found the photo-sharing app destructive to their self-esteem.

Although we’ve seen Facebook and Instagram introducing several new safety tools to help protect their younger users, there’s are still a lot of problematic issues stemming from the platform.

Perhaps it’s time to consider increasing the age limit?

Instagram Introduces New “Map Tool” for Businesses

If you’re a Snapchat user, you’ve probably seen the app’s interactive “Snap Map” that features local businesses in the areas being searched.

Now, Instagram is testing a similar tool called “Map Search” exclusively in Australia and New Zealand to help users discover new businesses in a particular area. The feature will also display information about the businesses listed, such as an address, hours of operation and pricing, plus a display of tagged posts.

We’re excited to see what this new addition means for business owners and hope to see it roll out in North America soon!

Instagram Develops “Montage” Feature to Expand Use of Reels

Will you let Instagram take the “Reel” for you?

As part of the company’s latest initiative to promote the use of video on the platform, Instagram will help users transform their Stories into Reels using a new “Montage” option.

The feature will allow Instagram users to auto-populate a Reel that combines pieces of individual Story posts to create stunning video content. From transitions to audio recommendations, the new feature will do all the work for you.

As considered by Social Media Today, the new feature comes at an interesting time as Instagram tries to discourage users from re-sharing feed content to their stories. So, why bring the two functionalities together in another way?

Friday Fun

We’ve been waiting all week to share our favourite Met Gala tweets.