Welcome back to our weekly summary of what's happened in social media this week. From the weird to the downright useful updates to apps in addition to reactive content that will help brands through this unsettling time, we have it covered. So, here is what caught our attention this week.
Snapchat works with WHO to design new lenses to encourage social distancing
Snapchat has unveiled two new lenses that use augmented reality to encourage social distancing. The first is called ‘My Social Distance’ and uses your phone’s camera to visualise the necessary space you need to keep from other people to avoid spreading the coronavirus. The second involves animated renders that remind you of the importance of washing your hands, staying at home and not touching your face.
Twitter provides a month of daily tweet prompts for brands
Twitter has published a listing of 20 tweet prompts to get you thinking about what you might want to share, in order to keep the tweets flowing and keep your brand front of mind, by appearing in your followers' feeds. If you're just starting out then these pointers could serve as inspiration to help connect with your audience.
Facebook is bringing new features to its live-streaming product
Facebook is launching a list of new features for its Facebook Live service. The most interesting features are aimed at making live content more accessible to viewers. There will also be a feature that will allow people to tune in to a broadcast even if they don't have a smartphone or Facebook account.
Instagram's testing a new option to promote the sale of gift cards via your business profile
Instagram is working on a new 'links' option within its business profile settings that will enable brands to add a new quick link, via a profile button or sticker, to guide visitors to purchase gift cards or make donations. This new feature is another element of the platform's effort to help businesses and artists who are suffering as a result of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
YouTube has developed a new video feature to exist within its mobile app
YouTube is developing a short-form video feature called 'Shorts' that will go head-to-head with TikTok. The feature, which will exist inside YouTube's mobile app, will allow users to link their videos to YouTube's music library to create videos similar to those on TikTok.
LinkedIn is making its recruitment tools free for essential businesses globally during the pandemic
With a boost in traffic to the networking platform, LinkedIn has leveraged this attention during this crisis by introducing new measures specifically around job listings. It will produce free job postings for 'essential' businesses globally. These are companies providing critical frontline service to keep the company and society in motion. Alongside this, LinkedIn is creating an "urgent jobs" board to give these openings more priority visibility.
