John

On 26th May, Facebook Inc declared that users of Instagram and Facebook will now have the option of hiding like counts on their posts from the public. This change gives more power in the hands of users to use it as per their interest. So, now before sharing a post, you can choose to hide like counts.  On Instagram, you can also hide like counts on other posts by visiting the new Posts section in Settings. Once selected, it is applicable for all the posts visible on your page. They have gone one step ahead and given more control by allowing users to turn this setting on and off after sharing the post. These two controls will be rolled out soon for Facebook as well. Today  social media  platforms have become so addictive that people continuously check their phone, invest less time in themselves and their relationships, harm their eyes, sleep patterns and waste a lot of time. It also impacts the user’s mental well-being, especially among youngsters. Youngsters see the number...

Popular social networking site Pinterest hosted an event focused on its creator community recently where it introduced a set of updates comprising its $500K Creator Fund and “Creator Code,” a new content policy along with other moderation tools and updates. The company said that it aims to make sure the platform remains a “positive, inclusive and inspiring place with these changes.” With the launch of the new content guidelines, Pinterest creators will be required to fact-check their content, practice inclusion, practice discretion for visually sensitive content, be kind and make sure any call to action they make via the platform does no harm. Creators will have to agree to and sign the Creator Code before posting any Story Pins. They will have to tap an “I Agree” button, meaning they accept the “Be Kind,” “Check my facts,” “Beware of triggers,” “Practice inclusion,” and “Do no harm” guidelines of the platform. The company will enforce the Creator Code similar to how it implements the ...

 === Digital marketing is an ever-evolving industry, and keeping up with the related news is crucial to stay ahead in the game. In this blog, we will discuss the latest rollout of Microsoft Advertising, Instagram’s upcoming feature, and some other  digital marketing  news, just in case you missed it. So, let’s take a quick look at some important updates from these popular platforms without wasting time. MICROSOFT ADVERTISING ROLLS OUT AUTO-APPLIED AD RECOMMENDATIONS Microsoft Ads is launching this new feature in April 2021 to improve performance and also save some time for advertisers. It will auto-generate ads for ad groups by using variations of existing ad copy and targeting in Microsoft Ads accounts. Advertisers can see the ad recommendations in their Recommendations tab, where they can edit, pause or delete the suggestions before they go live after 14 days automatically. However, advertisers who want to opt-out of this feature can go to their Settings tab, then Accou...

The social networking giant Facebook is testing out a new “Green Screen” feature for Facebook Stories. This new tool will let you use a still image or video as the background for your Stories on Facebook. It is pretty much similar to the Green Screen effect available on Facebook-owned Instagram. However, users can use this feature as an editing tool on Facebook, unlike on Instagram, where it is available as an AR filter or effect. It will appear on the top of the “Create Story” section along with the other options, including Text, Boomerang, and Selfies. Users can add an image or video from their gallery by tapping on the “Green Screen” option. After that, they can either tap to click a photo or hold to record a video against the chosen background. Upon selecting it, the feature is labeled as “Green Screen by Instagram” at the bottom, as per the screenshots shared by Mamun Billah, who spotted it. This feature is already available to Instagram users as an AR filter, and now soon, it wil...

Recently, Instagram was spotted testing out a new “Captions” sticker that auto-generates captions. This new feature appears in the sticker tab. Just like any other sticker, you can add this one to any of your Stories with a video clip. When you add this sticker to your Instagram Story, it will transcribe the audio in the video clip, thus generating captions automatically. Similar to regular text, users can change the font styles for captions in their story. This new feature is in its testing phase currently and is only available to select users. As of now, there is no information regarding when this feature will be rolled out for all users. Matt Navarra, a  social media  consultant and industry commentator spotted this new feature and shared a video on Twitter, showing how it works. Once users record a video, they can tap on the stickers tab and choose the “Captions” sticker from there. After that, the feature will transcribe the audio in the video and generate captions for th...

  Pinterest’s Global Director of Creator Marketing, Colleen Stauffer, said that the content on Pinterest is about the people and what they want in their life. Further adding to her statement, Stauffer explained that the platform really tried to harness planning that turned into way more short-term amid the pandemic last year. They wanted to fit users in their current lives and the way they planned in the hour. This ever-lasting pandemic not only changed our lives out in the physical world but also transformed our digital lives altogether. It shifted the demands people placed on familiar tools. Marketers must pay attention to these changes on  social media  platforms. The trends cut deep into the human experience for creators of these communities. Long before the pandemic emerged, the platform knew the tendency for ‘pinners’ (a fancy name for Pinterest users) to be “future-looking” in the content they looked up. They might be redesigning a room in their house, or perhaps t...

Jumping on the “Stories” bandwagon, Spotify has announced Spotify Clips. On Monday, at its Stream On event, the music giant introduced Spotify Clips that are much like Instagram and Snapchat Stories. They will be available on Spotify playlists and let artists connect with audiences and fans in a new, different way. Stories are a temporary way to share photos and videos that automatically vanish after 24 hours typically. Without a doubt, users love this format simply because it provides them with a way to share moments from their daily life for a short time. But the continually growing launch of these Stories across various platforms is becoming a piece of a running joke lately as they are even available on platforms where they don’t really fit. However, it only seems natural or somewhat inevitable that a popular app like Spotify would want to jump on the “Stories” bandwagon too. These Spotify Clips are in their testing phase currently. Nevertheless, since these stories are more of a...

  On Thursday, the Central Government issued new guidelines for the regulation of social media and OTT platforms to restrain the exploitation of content. The Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar briefed the media, welcoming social media companies to operate and do business in India and applauding them for gathering such immense popularity and a good number of users. Moreover, they praised these platforms for empowering the average users with the power of technology. However, the ministers said that the double standards of  social media  won’t be acceptable anymore and that regulating the actions of social networking companies in India has become crucial. These companies need to obey the Constitution and laws of India. To do so, the Centre has demanded the establishment of a quick grievance redressal mechanism. Let’s take a look at the key takeaways from the media briefing. Three-Tier Grievance Redressal Mechanism: A three-tier grievance redressal mech...

  The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has issued draft guidelines for social media influencers in order to bring transparency to digital media. ASCI pointed out that today influencer advertising has become quite popular, and the majority of posts that influencers publish are promotional, yet most of them aren’t recognized as such. This type of non-disclosure is a disservice to people and is also more or less misleading. According to the new guidelines, all  social media  influencers will need to reveal whether a particular creative post (image, video, or written content) is an advertisement or not. Moreover, if there are any product placements, influencers will have to add a pre-approved disclosure label that mentions the same precisely. In addition to this, they won’t be allowed to tweak the disclosure labels and will have to stick to the permitted labels only. These new social media rules apply to all social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram...