Insta of the Week: @InfluencersInTheWild is all about that #contentculture. We all look ridiculous.
Bye Bye IGTV Button: Instagram is removing the IGTV button from the main app’s user-experience, as almost nobody was hitting this button to watch long-form, vertical first video in the popular photo sharing app. As competition from YouTube, Snap and TikTok heats up, Facebook won’t abandon long-form content, but look for new approaches as this one didn’t work.
Spotify Testing Stories: The latest company to add Stories is Spotify, who is testing a feature that allows influencers to add short video clips users can tap to advance, similar to Insta and Facebook Stories.
Tim Cook Again Says AR is the Next Big Thing: Apple CEO Tim Cook has been a big advocate for the rise of augmented reality and was recently quoted about its potential to get our faces away from screens and bring people together. Key quote: “I’m excited about AR. My view is it’s the next big thing, and it will pervade our entire lives… You can imagine, for games it’s incredible but even for our [panel] discussion here. You and I might be talking about an article and using AR we can pull it up, and can both be looking at the same thing at the same time… I think it’s something that doesn’t isolate people. We can use it to enhance our discussion, not substitute it for human connection, which I’ve always deeply worried about in some of the other technologies.”
Amazon’s Latest Delivery Robot Plans: Amazon received a patent for a modular storage compartment attached to a “propulsion mechanism that could navigate multiple terrains, air, land and water” designed for household delivery no matter where you are. It may feature caterpillar tracks, propellers and turbo jets! Patents don’t necessarily mean they will be rolled out, but are an indication where companies are planning and investing.
Podcast of the Week: This week Kara Swisher published a fantastic interview with Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann, who shares the social network’s radical approach to search: deliberately engineering results to avoid harm, and holding itself accountable for unintended consequences. WHAT? Listen here.
Twitter DM’s Add Reactions: Twitter introduced iMessage-type reactions to direct messages this week. To add a reaction, click the ❤️➕ icon that appears when you hover over the message on web or double tap the message on mobile and select an emoji from the pop-up.
App of the Week: Who would want to use a camera app that makes your photos look terrible and can’t be viewed until 9 a.m. the next day? One million people!! It’s called David’s Disposable and it’s the best, dumbest way to turn your thousand dollar smart phone into a $5 disposable camera. (iOS download here).
GREG SWAN 