Social media evolves at the rapid-fire pace of the internet. Here’s a rundown of some of the most recent and relevant social media news and trends, so you can keep up with new possibilities and changing functionality.
Don’t be surprised if your Twitter page doesn’t look quite right – it’s probably because Twitter tore down the wallpaper. Twitter also recently launched a new Safety Center, to address growing concerns about how to best handle online abuse. And in a bizarre new case of intellectual property rights, Twitter has been deleting tweets containing stolen jokes, based on copyright grounds.
Google is doing some housecleaning, and shutting down unclaimed and inactive Google+ business pages. This is in line with Google’s decision to divorce Google+ from other Google services, including YouTube.
In other video news, a redesigned YouTube mobile app was just released. The app supports fullscreen vertical videos for the first time, a trend driven heavily by Snapchat. The Snapchat Discover section has partnered with Buzzfeed and Vox to provide content. Facebook released new updates for video publishers, and is now arguably YouTube’s biggest threat.
LinkedIn suddenly removed the ability to export contacts to a CSV file, and quickly added it back after a user backlash.
Instagram for Android now features a new quick edit screen, with a faster ability to flip through filters.
Pinterest continues to push into e-commerce by adding functionality to easily save links from iOS.
Once hugely-popular photo-hosting service Flickr has gone under the radar the past few years, acquiring a cult-like fan base. The Flickr Pro service has just been relaunched, geared more towards semi-pro and pro photographers.
UK Facebook users now have the ability to appoint an “heir” to manage account their account after they die… and to close with slightly less morbid news, at least one emoji-focused movie is being produced, and the official Amazon Tumblr page is really weird.