SpaceX + Falcon Heavy = A Tesla in Space: This week millions of people watched the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy – the highest-capacity rocket platform since the Saturn V with a bonus double autonomous booster landing. It was second most watched livestream event on YouTube (after Red Bull’s space jump), and it featured Elon Musk’s very own cherry red Tesla roadster with a dummy as the driver listening to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” on repeat. We won’t be Martians anytime soon, but Musk is planning to make history three more times in 2018. (LINK)
WTF is up with Online Recipes? Recipes work in social media and content marketing because the only thing people love more than food is 1) thinking about cooking food, and 2) watching food being cooked. We’re all disgusting pigs, aren’t we? Buzzfeed has a great article about the “11 Bullsh*t Things About Online Recipes” worth a read, including claiming that the recipe is “easy” but you see about 47 steps when you open it, and when a pinch of something is integral to the recipe but you know full well that that $18 bottle of whatever will never get used again. (LINK)
Facebook Testing Downvote Button on Comments: This week Facebook confirmed it’s testing a downvote button on Pages to help users easily flag a comment is inappropriate, uncivil, or misleading. These could help Facebook’s algorithms determine if the comment is “fake news,” bad taste or maybe just irrelevant. The test is already being criticized for censorship, but today Facebook has a “Hide” button for comments most people just don’t know about that serves the same purpose. (LINK)
Cosmo + Amazon Launch “Scan to Shop” Pages: Smilecodes work like QR codes for use with Amazon and its mobile app. When a consumer sees a SmileCode next to a product on a page, they can open the Amazon app and use its camera to scan the code, which will direct to the a dedicated Cosmopolitan or Seventeen Magazine Amazon page where users can buy the product in the magazine. It’s 18 years later, and magazines arestill trying to make the CueCat happen. Scanning barcodes on a paper magazine aren’t sure to mainstream, but we’ll keep an eye on new uses for Amazon QR codes. (LINK)
No Mom, Facebook Isn’t Limiting You to 26 Friends: People are sharing a hoax on Facebook that a new algorithm will restrict users to a pre-selected number of friends’ updates in the Newsfeed. Like most of these over-reactive cut/paste posts, this isn’t true. DAMN IT, JUST USE SNOPES, GRANDMA. But we find it fascinating that this is how older generations are translating the news that Facebook would start prioritizing posts from family and friends over brands and publishers last month. Yes, you’re seeing more from friends and family. No, there isn’t a limit. (LINK)
GREG SWAN 