For the leading social media companies, life is always hectic. Over the last few weeks a spate of new features, business tie-ins, and unusual announcements have been revealed alongside a mixture of high-profile criticisms and complaints. It's made for an insightful look at what Twitter and Facebook's respective futures hold.
Facebook unveiled their all-conquering business statistics from 2014, whilst simultaneously introducing one of their more unusual features. Twitter, in the meantime, apologised about its spam problems, introduced several new business-friendly applications, and braced itself ahead of the Oscars 2015. Here’s what’s been going on in a month fraught with activity.
Ongoing Spam Problems
Everyone with a Twitter account will be aware of the spam problems the company faces. Many dubious accounts surface, usually offering a service which will sell a user followers. The company’s spam problems can be traced back to 2009, when The Guardian covered the introduction of the “report as spam” button.
Worse still, many users have been subject to online abuse from rogue accounts (the notorious "trolls"). Most recently, video game developers EA and Ubisoft, along with over 2,000 people, signed a letter demanding stricter regulations on the format following the abuse of members of the gaming press and the brand's employees. Twitter has apologised to its users and vowed to do more to alleviate the problem as well as be more proactive in handling trolls.
TweetDeck Teams and Niche Acquisition
The company has launched TweetDeck Teams in an attempt to simplify Twitter for businesses. It provides a solution to account sharing, and “enables you to delegate access to as many people as you like.” Users can be set to Admin or Contributors, with control still belonging to the account holder. It’s available for web, Chrome, and Windows users.
Twitter have also acquired Niche. They stated, “We are excited to share that we’ve signed an agreement to acquire Niche, a provider of software, community, and monetization services for the growing creative community.” Niche have been partners with Twitter and Vine since 2014, and the company drives their respective economies with new technology, consisting of cross-platform analytics.
Analysing Successful Tweets
Google and the National Science Foundation recently backed a Cornell University research project. An algorithm was launched to understand sentence constructions, rhetoric, and keywords used in tweets, with the aim being to glean what made successful tweets popular.
This resulted in an unnamed tool that users can try out in order to determine which variation on a tweet with be more popular. It's certainly worth a go to discover keyword variations, and to add some added boost to your tweets.
Psychoanalysing Twitter
Apothic launched a website in time for Valentine's Day and the film release of ubiquitous sensation Fifty Shades of Grey.
The site is part of an elaborate marketing campaign for the Californian red wine and was devised by psychiatrist Dr. Sandra Scott, a celebrity along the lines of Frasier Crane, who has advised on television shows such as Big Brother. The service assesses a Twitter feed and judges a user's language, deciding whether they're egomaniacal, passionate, materialistic, or mischievous.
As far as marketing campaigns go, it was a success, receiving a lot of attention from the press. Apothic reminds us all social media can be fun; as the site’s helpful disclaimer points out, “Nothing found on this website is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological or psychiatric advice.”
The Oscars 2015
Twitter featured heavily at the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony. Host Ellen DeGeneres caused a sensation when she posted a selfie of herself and other celebrities, including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Spacey. The subsequent mass of retweets crashed the company's servers.
This year Twitter is hoping the format will, again, be Oscar viewers' social media tool of choice. In response to the increasing negativity seen on Twitter, cosmetic brand Dove launched a #SpeakBeautiful campaign in the hopes of promoting social media harmony. Their research discovered there were over five million negative Tweets about women, from other women, last year. It’s been timed with the Oscars in an attempt to quell negative Tweets about celebrities.
Facebook's Startling 2014 Business Highlights
The social media giant has bandied vast statistics around with aplomb over the years. Their recent release of 2014’s business results is no different. 2014’s highlights include:
- A total revenue of $12.47 billion – a 58% increase year-over-year.
- Income from operations equalling $4.99 billion.
- Net income of $2.94 billion.
- 890 million daily active users as of December 2014, amounting to an 18% increase on last year.
- 39 billion monthly active users, amounting to a 34% increase on last year.
- 19 billion monthly active mobile users, a 26% increase over last year (highlighting the importance of companies having a responsive design-ready website).
Facebook Gets Melancholic
Facebook tackled one of the more perplexing aspects of social media—what happens to a deceased person's account. To combat one of life’s most enigmatic dilemmas, they introduced Legacy Contact. Simply put, this allows users to nominate a friend they want to take control of their account should they suddenly pass away.
The friend can subsequently contact Facebook in order to memorialise the account. Alternatively, a user can set up their account so it is permanently deleted in the event of their death.
It’s unclear if Facebook suffered an existential crisis, but the service was introduced in the United States on the 12th February. It will become available to the rest of the world in 2015. The company noted, “Our team at Facebook is grateful and humbled to be working on these improvements. We hope this work will help people experience loss with a greater sense of possibility, comfort and support.”
The Importance Of Thoughtful Marketing
In recent years the U.S.-based Krispy Kreme Donut franchise opened its doors in the U.K. In an attempt to boost sales, numerous marketing campaigns have been introduced as donuts compete with the likes of Starbucks.
This week one backfired disastrously when a London store ran the Krispy Kreme Klub campaign, which became the slogan KKK Wednesday. The inadvertently provocative name was rapidly pointed out by dismayed customers on Facebook, and the brand removed the posts and apologised. Unfortunately for them, not before the world’s press descended on the blunder.
eCommerce Boost
The eCommerce section of Facebook’s site, For Sale Groups, has had an overhaul. New features were introduced which allow for improved cataloguing options. It’s a global community, with Facebook highlighting two case studies: Lisa from Florida, who sells crochet work and has over 4,500 members, and guitarist Kadu from Rio de Janeiro, who boasts 34,000 members on his group, on which he sells and purchases instruments. This is a further indication that the brand is branching out into every available avenue.
Facebook At Work
Finally, the company will soon be joining the likes of LinkedIn with Facebook At Work. Although it’s not yet released, your company can apply for more information here. If your office has Facebook procrastination issues, this could be the solution.
