Tough to imagine, but something other than the Facebook IPO
happened in the world of social media during May. Shocking, I know. If you were
busy catching up on the ups and downs (well, mostly downs) of the Facebook share
price for the past few weeks, here’s a recap of other social media happenings
that took place last month.
Facebook
Facebook rolls out
new features for brand pages (via Mashable)
Facebook announced it will let brand pages have scheduled posts, similar to
a third-party app like HootSuite for Twitter. Brand pages also feature five new
admin roles: manager, content creator, moderator, advertiser, and insights
analyst.
Facebook announces promoted
posts for pages (via AllFacebook) Any
Facebook page that has more than 400 likes will now have the ability to promote
their post in timelines. Each post’s estimated reach is based on the budget
administrators set to promote the post. Promoted posts can also be targeted by
language or location for area-specific information.
Facebook admins can
see percentage of fans who see their posts (via Mashable) As
an added page analytics feature, brand pages will now display the percentage of
fans who see each post. This move may come as a way for the company to show
advertisers the value of using Facebook as a means to attract customers.
Twitter
Twitter uses web
history to suggest who to follow (via Huffington
Post) Twitter announced it will track individuals and their visits to
websites that feature Twitter “share” buttons, which in essence is close to
every site online. By doing this, Twitter can see which stories or topics
interest the user and suggest Twitter accounts that fall in line with this web
history. The data Twitter collects is deleted after 10 days and users have the
option of opting out of tracking.
Twitter “digest” now
appearing in your inbox (via Mashable)
Twitter now emails users a weekly digest of their timeline feeds, including
tweets and links that are considered important based on who a user follows and
what information they share. The digests also feature the most engaging stories
from a user’s feed.
Google+
Google+ unveils new Local
tool (via Mashable)
Google+ users can now find businesses around them using the Local tab. By searching
for something on the tab, the Google+ page for a nearby restaurant, museum, or
other business will appear with photos, as well as reviews from Zagat and
people you know. When Google+ users are logged into the system, the Local
information will appear in Google searches and through Google Maps as well.
Google News features
stronger ties to Google+ (via Yahoo!
News) The new integration brings conversations from Google+ to the
Google News homepage, but the feature can be turned off if users only want to
see headlines.