This week’s ‘Skim: how and why you might see a lot more of Snapchat on the Web this year, and the scary numbers that explain why it could soon introduce unskippable ads; Mark Zuckerberg’s personal 2018 resolution to fix Facebook; Instagram introduces recommended posts into users’ feeds and new way to share Stories to WhatsApp; 2018 social media trends and predictions you need to keep an eye on; basic social media mistakes companies still make, and how to fix them; and much more…
Skim for a running start into the new year!
1. Snapchat developing third-party sharing features
With Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp all incorporating their own version of Snapchat Stories into their platforms, for the first time ever Snap Inc. is looking for ways to broadcast its user-generated content outside the walls of the Snapchat app itself.
The social network, struggling with user growth since going public in 2017, is starting off the new year with hopes of enabling users and brands to share Stories on other social media networks, and even on a proprietary Web player, too. The feature has been dubbed Stories Everywhere.
Snap is also exploring the possibility of licensing Snapchat Stories—both user- and employee-generated—to platforms that host breaking news and sports coverage.
2. Mark Zuckerberg’s 2018 personal goal is to fix Facebook before it implodes
In 2014, he learned Mandarin. In 2016, he built an AI assistant for his home. But in 2018, Mark Zuckerberg’s personal goal appears to be, ironically, going back to the start of it all, before he had other ambitions to worry about: fixing Facebook.
In a blog post this week, Zuckerberg described his goal as focusing on fixing important issues to protect the Facebook community from hate and abuse, and defending its users from nation-state propaganda.
Though that might not seem like a personal goal or resolution, the Facebook CEO says focusing more intensely on these issues, rather than creating an unrelated goal, as he has in the past, will enable the company to end 2018 on a more positive note than the year that just ended.
3. Instagram flights recommended posts in feed
The Facebook-owned social platform has launched a feature that puts recommended posts within users’ feed, making it the first-time users won’t have to navigate to the app’s Explore section to find content they might like.
The new Recommended for You section, which will be clearly labeled to avoid confusion with the normal Instagram feed, will feature 3-5 posts based on content liked by accounts that users follow.
Critics and naysayers can take refuge in the fact that the new section will appear only after a user has viewed all posts in their normal feed—and that it can be temporarily disabled.
According to some of Snapchat’s media and advertising partners, the social network is considering forcing users to watch at least three seconds of ads before they’re able to skip past them.
That consideration likely stems from the less-than-business-friendly fact that most of the platform’s young users skip ads within less than one second. That leaves brands unhappy, and that’s not a good thing for Snapchat.
Snap Inc. CEO Evan Spiegel has been notoriously unfriendly toward the inclusion of ads, which could explain why users have been able to move past them with the simple tap of the screen, but that format just hasn’t inspired advertiser confidence the way…
