UNO’s Color Blind Redesign: Mattel made headlines this week as they released a color blind friendly version of the classic card game, UNO. As we all know, UNO requires and relies on the identification of colors to play. This has been accomplished with the implementation of ColorADD, a symbol-based system where each color is represented by a unique icon. The rules remain the same, but with 350 million color blind people around the globe, this is definitely a game changer (pun intended!). (LINK)
The 3 A.M. Challenge: Remember telling your friends ghost stories in the middle of the night as a kid? Well, there’s a new trend that’s keeping kids awake, and it’s probably not what you think. YouTube creators have been uploading videos of themselves attempting to interact with the paranormal at 3 A.M. (the devil’s hour) and it’s catching on. These videos are getting millions of views from young thrill-seekers looking to get scared while their parents are asleep. Speaking of scary, are you up on the Dear David thread? Hope you’re not a fan of sleep! (LINK)
Instagram tests a feature that lets users share Stories directly to Facebook: Instagram Stories have been a massive hit for brands and individuals alike, but as you might have noticed, the same cannot be said for Facebook Stories. On a daily basis, most people post to their Instagram Stories, while Facebook’s own version is only seeing a fraction of the action. In hopes of remedying this engagement problem, Instagram is testing out a feature that would allow users to upload their stories from Instagram to Facebook. We think “stories” as a content vehicle are here to stay, but mainstream adoption has been slow. So we’re watching this test closely. (LINK)
Taylor Swift Tix: You know TFW you go to buy tickets on Ticketmaster at the moment they go on sale, only to see the show is sold out in a time that seems humanly impossible? It was probably because it wasn’t entirely humans, or fans for that matter. In an attempt to combat bots snatching up tickets before true fans can get their hands on them, Taylor Swift has teamed up with Ticketmaster to introduce a verified fan program that incentivizes people to buy merch, music, and share to get a better place in line. After reading comments and reactions, it appears as though some fans aren’t wild about the model. We can’t see this standing in the way of Swifties by any means. (LINK)
Smile-to-Like Social Engagement: A few months ago Facebook quietly filed patents that would secretly use your phone’s camera to track your emotional reactions to your newsfeed and then serve up similar content, and another that generate emoji reactions to posts you’re reading based on your facial expression. Although Facebook claims this may never be released to the public, this week we’re testing out Polygram, a new photo-based social network that gauges your facial expressions and tallies up responses based on smiles or frowns. Creepy and cool, right? Wait, are you smiling or frowning right now? This email software must be too dumb to tell. (LINK)
GREG SWAN 