Lately, social networks have had a rough go of it. Data scandals broke. Privacy issues abound. False news continues to spread, and online harassment proliferates.
As public opinion on these topics swells, social networking sites across the board are taking action.
Below, see the most significant ways social networks are attempting to solve the big issues. Of course, there are some new ways for your business to market and work on social, too.
1. Ways to Combat False News
Facebook is rolling out new tips on how users can spot false news. The informational campaign will appear at the top of the News Feed and in print ads. Facebook will also be removing profiles, pages, domains and posts that violate company policy.
2. New Tools for Groups
After Facebook updated its algorithm earlier this year, Groups are poised to play a much bigger role on Facebook. Now, if you’re an admin of a Group, you’ll find help is there and ready for you.
There are all kinds of educational resources in this new library. If you have a specific question, pop on over to Admin Help in your Admin Tools and Insights.
You’ll get a response in one business day. You’re also able to pre-approve members, which allows them to post at any time without you manually accepting each one.
3. Get Ready for More Facebook Stories
Thought stories were only a hit on Instagram? Nope. 150 million people use Facebook Stories every day! That’s about half of the users on Instagram Stories.
Facebook’s chief product officer estimates that stories will surpass feed posts as the top way to share sometime next year. Once Facebook has the audience, it rolls out the ads. So, you can now advertise on Facebook Stories.
1. Ability to Mute Accounts
If your follower count is stagnant, but your engagement dropping, you could be on mute. Users can continue to follow your brand but stop seeing your updates.
All they have to do is tap the three dots to the right of your username and select mute. From there, they can choose to stop seeing just your posts or your posts and stories.
2. Improvements to Instagram Direct
If it seems like your business gets a lot of messages on Instagram Direct, you’re not alone! Over 150 million people talk to companies on Instagram Direct every month.
Luckily, your job is about to get easier. Instagram Direct will now look more like an inbox. Important messages will appear in your main Direct inbox, where you can star or filter conversations. Also, quick replies are coming soon, so you can create ready-made answers to your most asked questions.
3. Posts to Stories
You and your followers can now share content from your feed to your stories in a snap. Just click the airplane button under the feed photo and tap "Create a story with this post." It’s that easy — which should allow for more user-generated content in your stories!
4. Better Bios
In addition to one website link, you can now link to other accounts and hashtags by adding "@" or "#" to your profile content.
1. Content Moderating
By updating its policies and machine learning algorithms while also strengthening its human review process, Twitter has reduced its abuse reports from conversations by 8 percent.
That means you’ll see fewer trolls on Twitter that disrupt and distract from the public conversation.
2. Twitter TV Apps Gone
Just recently, Twitter deleted some of its device-connected apps that let people watch Twitter videos on their smart televisions.
The company didn’t detail the reasoning behind this. But given Twitter’s recent emphasize on live-streaming and even original television content, it’s worth noting the change.
