Every week I keep tabs on what’s trending, new technology and consumer habits that impact the social web. These are summed up in a round-up called Social Pulse.
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NOTE: This week is a little different. For the first time in 154 weeks I’m not sending this out as an email for obvious reasons. Just storing this information here for the future...
Manage Activity: Facebook is making it easier to bulk-delete your embarrassing old posts. If you’ve been on Facebook more than a couple years, it’s worth spending some time doing this. Especially now.
Shop With Your Camera: This week Pinterest launched a Shop tab on Lens visual search results. Just click the camera in the search bar, snap or upload a photo, and see a “Shop” tab with a feed of shoppable Pins based on the in-stock products we’ve identified in that image. Every Product Pin links directly to the checkout page on the retailer’s site. It’s magic.
Email Comes to Facebook Pages: In a CRM power grab, Facebook is adding the option to send marketing emails via Facebook Pages. It has much lighter functionality than Salesforce, but will be a good option for smaller companies looking to get started in email. Because believe it or not, email really matters in 2020!
A.I. and the Future of Work: Microsoft is laying off at least 50 contract journalists and replacing them with AI technology. One of the terminated workers told the Seattle Times that their duties have been “semi-automated for a few months, but now it’s full speed ahead.” Look for more of this in the future, as humans move to editors and computers take on more writing and research.
App of the Week: It’s not the best timing, but Facebook launched a live event companion tool called Venue that gives event goers or watchers second screen content, which can be used during events like NASCAR races. Key quote: “Despite drawing large concurrent viewership, live broadcasts are still a mostly solo viewing experience. Passionate fans are constantly seeking better ways to engage with other fans and experts around their favorite events. Venue aims to give fans an interactive second-screen experience, curated by experts and centered on the pivotal moments of their favorite events.” Download the beta here: iOS and Android.
Shortcut of the Week: Mac users! Next time you’ve got your cursor in a text field, simultaneously press the “Command + Control + Spacebar” keys. Poof! Emoji shortcut window. Windows 10 users: Win + period (.) or Win + semicolon (;)
WTF Viral Video of the Week: This archive video from the first week of June 1999 features Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, founders of Napster, sharing their vision with MTV News of a future where all music will become digital and monetized. Key quote: “You hear talk of the ‘celestial jukebox,’ or a big archive of all the music in the world, and you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want. And people are going to pay for that.”
GREG SWAN 