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Summer is a notoriously difficult time of year to keep up-to-date on news. To make sure you don’t feel out of the loop, we have rounded up some of the most interesting social media news stories that have come out this summer.
Facebook has 2 billion monthly users
Facebook has reached its newest milestone, now having 2 billion active users. For any naysayers who thought, back in the early 2000s, Facebook would just be a passing fad, they have been well and truly proved wrong. Facebook is by far the largest social media platform based on number of active users. Its nearest competitor is YouTube with 1.5 billion monthly users.
YouTube videos to play directly within WhatsApp
A WhatsApp update which will allow YouTube videos to play directly within a chat window, is soon to be released on iOS. Currently, if a person clicks a link to a YouTube video in WhatsApp, they will be taken to the YouTube app or webpage. People will be able to see their WhatsApp chat window whilst watching the video meaning they won’t be missing incoming messages and are therefore more likely to watch the whole video.
Giphy is considering sponsored GIFs
Giphy is a gif maker site which has just reached 200 million daily users. With this growth they have begun discussions around allowing brands to sponsor gifs. For instance if a person searched for “holiday” an Air Canada gif may appear. If this goes ahead, it will be great news for both Giphy and us marketers.
Facebook stories can now be public
Up until this month, Facebook stories could only be seen by your friends, now if you allow people to follow your profile page, they will also be able to view your story. Currently stories are only a feature on individual pages rather than business pages but we hope this will change in the future. In the meantime, you can create stories via your business Instagram and Snapchat accounts.
97% of millennials post on social media while travelling
A millennial’s age is generally defined as people aged 17-37 (or born between 1980 and 2000). Internet Marketing Inc.’s recent study found that 97% of this age group post on social media while travelling. 75% of these people do so at least once a day. While marketers are generally concerned about their audience being harder to reach over summer, this finding is reassuring. If this is the age group you are targeting, you know they can be found on social media platforms during the summer season of travel.
While all of these updates may not directly affect your social media marketing right now, it is always useful to be aware of what functionalities exist. If you would like to discuss how to use social media to market your business, give us a call or drop by our Vancouver office.