Tag: changes

Top 5 Facebook Updates

As Facebook are constantly announcing new updates, Kong Digital have put together a list of the top five most recent updates to help you understand what these changes mean.

1. Facebook adds Snapchat-style stickers and sliding filters to app

Facebook has begun allowing users to add filters and stickers to their pictures which are very similar to the features which Snapchat offer.

The update which is being rolled out gradually to users of Facebook’s iOS app will allow user to add text to a picture, change its colour and position on that picture, see how filters looked before and after using sliders, and also add stickers, all of which are popular features on Snapchat.

The update is being rolled out gradually to users of Facebook's iOS app and the edit menu appears in the left-hand corner when a user uploads a photo                        Users can now add text, changes its colour and position on the photo, see how filters looked before and after using sliders and add stickers

2. Sign Up for Messenger, Without a Facebook Account

This update allows users to avail of all the features Facebook Messenger offers without creating a Facebook account.

To access this, users most click on the “Not on Facebook” option provided and sign up using their name, phone number and a photo.

3. Instagram search and explore page

Instagram’s new Explore page will allow users to discover trending Tags and Places as they occur.
The improved search feature makes it easier to find the people, places, and tags you’re looking for by providing sections including; Explore posts, Discover People Curated Collections and Trending Tags.

 

 4. Facebook Pages Can Now Show How Quickly They Respond To Customers’ Messages

Following Facebook’s introduction of “Saved Replies,” which allows Page admins to compose, save and reuse message responses to quickly respond to incoming inquirespublicisecan now publicize how fast they respond to these inquiries.
The new “Response Rate” feature will show a Page’s responsiveness information to Page admins and if the response rate is high, it will also be displayed to Page visitors through an icon below the cover photo.

Following Facebook’s update of taking into account who has watched a video and how long for, the focus is now on taking into account the users interactions with these videos.

This includes determining whether someone found a particular video interesting or not based on their actions, such as choosing to turn on sound, making the video full screen, and enabling high definition.
These actions allow Facebook to determine what videos users like to see, enabling them to show similar videos and also placing these videos higher up in the user’s news feed.

5. Taking into Account More Actions on Videos

Following Facebooks update of taking into account who has watched a video and how long for, the focus is now on taking into account the users interactions with these videos.

This includes determining whether someone found a particular video interesting or not based on their actions, such as choosing to turn on sound, making the video full screen, and enabling high definition.

These actions allow Facebook to determine what videos users like to see, enabling them to show similar  videos and also placing these videos higher up in the user’s newsfeed.

Take Your Time – Facebook makes algorithm changes.

Facebook has had another change of heart – it’s decided to alter its algorithms, again.

Whereas previously, content was presented in news feeds to those who interacted more often with the pages, it will now take in to consideration the amount of time spent looking at the posts.

Facebook seem to be recognizing the fact that we don’t all comment, like and share whenever we take an interest in something. Whether that’s down to embarrassment or fear of ‘over-liking’ we can’t be sure, but the fact is that people do take the time to look at external links and photo albums, especially within the Facebook app.

Before all the marketers start jumping up and down with joy, no, this isn’t going to mean that your ad spend can decrease. Take some comfort in that it also doesn’t mean it needs to increase.

mouse_scrollIn their blog announcement, Facebook very clearly stated: “We do not expect Pages to see significant changes in distribution as a result of this update.”

This does seem like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Facebook is saying ‘ok, we’ll make sure more people see content that they are interested in’, but it’s making a pretty plain statement to highlight that this won’t increase reach.

Perhaps images are the key to this update. Create bold, eye-catching images that people won’t scroll past too quickly, and you might just notice that a few more people begin to interact with you.

As always, Facebook is trying to make its platform more interesting, image driven and newsworthy. Keep this all in mind when putting together your creatively genius posts!

Catch up with the Facebook blog post about this update here.

lucy-stamp

 

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