Tag: Social Media

Facebook Messenger now offers a more dynamic persistent menu for bot developers

Dianne Jacobs

Facebook has released a Messenger platform update giving bot developers greater flexibility and control over how they want the app experience to be for users. Included in version 1.4 is a redesigned persistent menu that supports multiple nested items and allows better workflows and experiences, thanks to its integration with webviews. Developers can access this capability today, but it will become visible to users over the next two weeks. In addition, Facebook has also launched new ways to share content within Messenger, updated its customer matching feature for businesses, and…

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Facebook is testing emoji reactions and dislikes in Messenger

Dianne Jacobs

When words just aren’t enough emojis come to the rescue, and Facebook is reportedly testing out a feature that lets you reply to messages with smiles, sad faces, and even a thumbs down icon. Facebook confirmed to TechCrunch that emoji reactions are indeed being trialled. Most of the reactions are the same as the ones you’ll know from your News Feed, except for that thumbs down, “dislike” button, which Facebook says is more of a “no” response to something that’s been said. “We’re always testing ways to make Messenger more…

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YouTube to Remove 30-Second Unskippable Advertisements

Dianne Jacobs
youtube

Google is planning to abolish those 30-second non-skippable ads next year according to Slash Gear. However, YouTube will have to find another way to please the advertisers. Users with  complete interest in ad free YouTube experience can opt for a subscription to YouTube Red, which cuts out ads completely and offers access to exclusive shows and other video content. So they have to watch it no matter what! It’s going to focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers. But most likely, they will also be placing…

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WhatsApp is the latest Facebook product to clone Snapchat stories

Dianne Jacobs
whatsapp

WhatsApp has launched  WhatsApp Status, a new tab for sharing decorated photos, videos and GIFs that disappear after 24 hours. It’s another Facebook-owned Snapchat Stories copycat, but the twist is that it’s end-to-end encrypted like WhatsApp messaging. As on Snapchat, WhatsApp stories are posted from an in-app camera. Once you’ve taken a photo, you can adorn it with drawings, text, and emoji. Once you post your story, it appears in a new “status” tab, where your contacts can view it for the next 24 hours. You can reply to friends’ updates…

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Facebook ’s New Feature; Discover People, Helps users get social

Dianne Jacobs
facebook

Facebook has always made it easy to find friends you already have in real life who are on the social network. To enable users connect with new users, Facebook is rolling out a new feature called “Discover People,” which  aims to leverage local events to connect like-minded strangers in person. Before using the feature, Facebook prompts users to update their profiles, but doesn’t change your privacy settings, so you’re still apt to get only a limited snapshot of potential pals as you scroll through Facebook’s lists. The company confirmed to…

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Viber now lets users set photos and videos to disappear after they’re viewed

Viber

Viber, one of the most popular encrypted chat apps,rolled out what it calls “secret messages,” to give users even more control over their communications. The feature lets users designate which photos or videos stay in the archives of a chat before they hit “send.”Viber  already let users delete a conversation from both their own phone, and that of recipients’ phones. Tech Crunch reports that the new, secret messaging feature lets users set a timer for images they want to share, but that they don’t want to be included in the archives,…

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Facebook Loses $500 Million Virtual Reality Headset Verdict

Dianne Jacobs
Facebook

Facebook Inc. and its co-defendants were ordered to pay $500 million to ZeniMax Media Inc. after a jury found the social network’s Oculus VR unit unfairly used ZeniMax code to build a virtual reality headset Bllomber Technology reports. The verdict in Dallas federal court is a rebuke to Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, who isn’t a defendant but who told jurors in his first-ever courtroom testimony that it was important for him to be there because the claims by ZeniMax were “false.” An Oculus spokeswoman said the company will…

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Twitter is shutting down its business app, Twitter Dashboard

Twitter

Twitter Dashboard, the app aimed at business users, is shutting down on February 3 — just over seven months since it was launched. However, its demise may not be so bad for the larger Twitter community. Twitter released the new app called Dashboard which was designed to help businesses make the most of their Twitter presence without having to refer to third-party options. Dashboard was described as a “a powerful tool designed to help businesses connect with their customers and community.” Among its features is a customized feed, tweet scheduling, personalized notifications, and tweet recommendations. In a…

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Interview: Hootsuite’s CEO Lessons from Getting Hacked on Social Media

Cybersecurity

“Hey, it’s OurMine Team, we are just testing your security, please send us a message.” Earlier this summer, that message was blasted out to my followers on Twitter… only I didn’t send it. I had been hacked. It was embarrassing. I run Hootsuite, a social media management company that prides itself on world-class security for our customers. How could this happen? What did I do wrong? In the following days, I learned that Ev Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, had fallen victim to the same hackers. And not long before that,…

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#ELLE101: #WomenInBusiness Twitter Chat with Sophia Bekele

ElleAfrique Women in Business

On 6th May 2016, Elle Afrique a blogzine for the #PowerfulAfricanGoddess, hosted an incisive Twitter Chat with Sophia Bekele, Business Executive and Philanthropist.  The #WomenInBusiness chat proved to be very enlightening for Women.  As a seasoned entrepreneur  Miss Bekele had a few nuggets of wisdom to share on women in business and what some of her experiences have been thus far. She touched on the importance of networking in business. “Networking is the subtle building of human capital through connections. Traditionally Business has been built and expanded via networks, tech has…

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