Every month, I round up the latest and greatest in the social media world so you can rehash the former month in review in case you missed any updates.
Facebook had a busy month with updates surrounding video and content policies. Recently quiet platforms Google+ and Reddit had a few changes this month, and LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube did, too.
Here are ten updates published in April that you should read if you want to stay up-to-date in the social media world.
Facebook is going beyond the basic signals of liking, commenting, and sharing to now factor in viewing time as a ranking signal. Based on the data collected by individual users, Facebook will now make an attempt to predict how long people will spend viewing a piece of content.
Learn More: Facebook’s News Feed Algorithm Now Factors in Viewing Time
Facebook’s Instant Articles, a proprietary publishing platform that promises instant loading content on mobile, is now available to anyone who publishes content on Facebook.
Learn More: Facebook’s Instant Articles Now Available to Everyone
Live video on Facebook is proving to be a popular medium for creating and sharing content. Since launching the feature in August 2015, the company quickly made the feature available to everyone earlier this year. Now there are new features designed to get more people in on the action.
Learn More: New Ways to Create Live Video on Facebook, and Track Viewership
Facebook improved the search and discovery process for live videos. With the new search experience, you will be able to discover live and recorded video by typing in keywords or browsing through channels. Only videos that are either public or have been shared with you will be visible in search.
Learn More: New Ways to Search For Live Video on Facebook
Facebook updated its policies on how branded content is handled on the network. Branded content is defined as anything that “that specifically mentions or features a third party product, brand, or sponsor.”
Learn More: Facebook Changes its Policies on Branded Content
Google+
Google has loosened its restrictions on who can leave reviews. Once requiring a Google+ account, now reviews can be left whether signed in to a Google+ account or not.
Learn More: Google Reviews Get Easier, No Google+ Required
LinkedIn released an app with the potential to bring in more young people to its social network. The new app, appropriately titled “LinkedIn Students”, is made specifically for helping college students in their efforts to find jobs after graduation.
Learn More: New App From LinkedIn Helps College Grads Find Jobs
Reddit finally has its own self-produced mobile app for the iOS and Android platforms. Its presenting a completely different user experience on its mobile app than what people are accustomed to on desktop.
Learn More: Reddit Releases First Ever Self-Made iOS and Android Apps
Twitter is set to be the destination for sports fans on Thursday nights; the signing of a partnership with the NFL gives the social network exclusive streaming rights of NFL Thursday Night Football.
Learn More: Twitter to Stream NFL Thursday Night Football This Fall
YouTube
Google is rolling out a new ad format for YouTube which will be short and unskippable. Google is calling me these ad units “Bumper” ads and they will appear just before videos that you watch on your phone or tablet.
Learn More: Unskippable Six Second Ads Coming to YouTube
Image Credits
Featured Image: Image by Paulo Bobita
In-post Photo #1: Gelner Tivadar/Shutterstock.com
In-post Photo #2: Gil C/Shutterstock.com
