Welcome to your digest of the most relevant marketing news of the week! This week, even Mark Zuckerberg gave us something to talk about. Learn more below!
Instagram to Hide its True Feelings?
Invisible likes now could be a reality. According to sources, Instagram would be testing a new feature to hide the number of a post’s likes from followers. The idea is to encourage audiences to focus on the content an account shares, and not on the likes of a publication.
Here’s the rest of the story: https://nypost.com/2019/04/19/instagram-tests-making-likes-invisible-influencers-are-worried/
Some Guy Named Mark Launches Podcast
In his New Year’s resolution, Mark Zuckerberg decided that in 2019 he wanted to address issues related to technology and its place in society, and to reboot Farmville with “corn-focused microtransactions.” One of those statements is (probably) true. As evidence, Zuckerburg’s new podcast “Tech and Society”. Do you think this will begin to mend the reputation of the technology giant? Is it a purely cynical public relations move, or do you think “Tech and Society” has the potential to start meaningful conversations about issues that platforms like Facebook represent?
Read more here: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/24/18514392/mark-zuckerberg-podcast-facebook-spotify-new-years-resolution
“Alexa, Watch Your Back.” Facebook Developing AI Digital Voice Assistant
Facebook has confirmed that is working on an artificial intelligence-based digital voice assistant. This new technology would focus specifically on their AR/VR products including Portal and Oculus. Currently, Facebook expressly states that this project, which is still in early development, is not intended to compete directly with smart speakers like Alexa or Google Assistant. However, they said it while the assistant wasn’t listening, so who knows what it’ll ultimately do?
Learn more: https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/17/18412757/facebook-ai-voice-assistant-portal-oculus-vr-ar-products
Take a Byte Out of Vine (sorry)
Miss Vine? Wow, really? Well, good news..? It’ll be back soon! The video app has been rebooted and would now return with a brand new name: Byte. Although It’s still a short-form video app, Byte now promises to be less alienating to older audiences almost everyone. And not sell children’s personal information.
Read all about it here: https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/22/vine-remake-byte/
That’s this week’s news in social media marketing! Stay tuned for more updates next week!