45 Social Media Updates and Announcements

So much has been happening in social media over the couple months, it has been almost impossible to keep up! There have been several social media changes, updates, reports, and announcements released.  Almost every major social media network has been affected by a new update.

We know how hard it can be trying to find time to read up on all the major social media announcements happenings lately.  Although you will still need to find the time to do the reading, we are laying it all out for you (just in case you missed anything).  The information will also be all in one place, conveniently located right here on our blog for you to come back to and reference when you make some time to get caught up to speed.

Below you will find a list of social media changes that have occurred over the last eight weeks or so.

1.  This isn’t a change, but it is very important.  Google rolled out a video showing StartUps how to Master SEO in 10 Minutes.  Watch Google’s SEO Video here.

2.  This update was announced back in May, but many people may be missing the boat here.  If you have not read up on Google’s Knowledge Graph, you need to get started now.  How will it affect SEO and search?  Only time will tell.  Official Google Blog on The Knowledge Graph.  Mashable story on The Knowledge Graph.

3.  FourSquare rolled out “local updates” which allows businesses to message users who have checked into their location the most.  The users selected are based on a FourSquare algorithm.  Read about FourSquare Local Updates here.

4.  Just in case you missed the message on the All New FourSquare, Watch the All New FourSquare Video.

5.  FourSquare launches “promoted updates”.  It’s like PPC on FourSquare for local businesses, and similar to Facebook promoted posts.  Businesses will pay a price to have certain updates included in users’ Explore tab.  Read about Promoted Updates on FourSquare.

6.  News:  YouTube is working on a better comment system.

7.  YouTube has launched a marketplace to connect YouTube stars and brands.  The Video Creation Marketplace connects content creators with YouTube marketers or agencies.

8.  Link Your YouTube Account to a Domain.  Add default text settings to your videos.  Your YouTube Icon now shows up in organic search results and two new other places.  Nielson Group now wants access to your YouTube data.  Watch the YouTube Update Video Here.

9.  Check out the new YouTube Partner Product Bulletin where you can keep up on all the new YouTube changes.

10.  New video data – best time to publish new video content may depend on what devices are viewing it.  Check out the video stats and the video publishing overview here.

11.  YouTube releases face blurring tool.  YouTube recently stated, “Today we’re launching face blurring – a new tool that allows you to obscure faces within videos with the click of a button.  Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old’s basketball game without broadcasting the children’s faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube.”

12.  New shared information on how to optimize your Google+ content for lead generation, from the experts at Google.  Read the blog on optimizing Google+ content here.

13.  Gmail Video chat has disappeared and has been replaced with Google+ Hangouts.  Read how Google+ Hangouts will now work with your Gmail account.

14.  Google+ Creators want you to stop calling it a social network.  Find out why.  (Google+ Creators:  Stop Calling it a Social Network)

15.  Google+ Rolls Out Google+ Events.  Google+ Rolled Out Google+ Events, which is the coolest social media event promotion I have seen to date.  Users can now not only share invitations, but they can also share everyone’s photos from the event in the same place as well as share photos instantly.  So, if you are disappointed that you had to miss the party, don’t worry, instant real-time photos updates will keep you in the loop.  Pretty cool, huh?  Watch the Google+ Events Video here.  Read about Google+ Events in the Google+ Blog here.

16.  Flipboard becomes a Google+ partner.  “The Flipboard prototype brings its familiar page-turning experience to Google+ text and photos.”

17.  Twitter and LinkedIn Broke Up.  LinkedIn users can no longer auto-sync their tweets to publish on LinkedIn.  Read about the Twitter and LinkedIn relationship end.

18.  Here’s a rumor you may have missed:  LinkedIn Considering Buying Monster.

19.  Twitter rolled out targeted Tweets.  This is an enhancement to the promoted tweets Twitter already offers.  Marketers will now be able to target specific audiences.  Read about Targeted Tweets.

20.  More Twitter updates:  Twitter rolls out weekly email digest with the week’s top Twitter Stories from your stream.  Twitter delivers top tweets of the week that do not contain any links.  You can stop email delivery of these two items by going to your Twitter settings and unchecking the boxes to turn them off.

21.  Twitter customized the Trends feature just for you. Read about Tailored Trends.

22.  Twitter now sends follower suggestions to your inbox.

23.  Twitter now features Expanded Tweets.  Expanded tweets contain rich content inside Tweets.  Twitter’s blog states, “When you expand Tweets containing links to partner websites, you can now see content previews, view images, play videos and more.”  Read about Expanded Tweets.

24.  Facebook now let’s brands target posts by age and gender.  Read the story on Facebook targeted posts.

25.  Facebook introduces Recommendation box which shows personalized recommendations to your users.  The plugin will give preference to and highlight objects friends have interacted with on your Facebook page which contain URLs from your website.  Read about the Facebook Recommendations Box.

26.  Facebook changes the way they calculate your reach.  Have you noticed your number displaying differently now?  Read all about the new way Facebook Calculates Reach.

27.  Facebook is reportedly getting set to launch a job postings board.  Learn more about Facebook Jobs.

28.  Facebook streamlines payments system.  Users can now use their local form of currency to purchase virtual goods and apps.

29.  Facebook introduces the “Find Friends Nearby” feature.  This is a new mobile feature to help you find friends, and potential friends, who are currently around you. My first thought was “Wow!  Facebook actually finally wants me to make new friends.”  But, then, they pulled the feature as fast as it was delivered.  No more Friends Nearby feature from Facebook.

30.  App developers on Facebook now have the ability to charge for subscriptions.  Learn more about Facebook App Subscriptions.

31.  Facebook testing Call button for Online Video Chats.

32.  If you haven’t seen, read, heard, or used Facebook Promoted Posts yet, you can get some info on it here.  Facebook Rolls Out Promoted Posts to Extend Reach of Your Page’s Content. Facebook now Integrates with WordPress.

33.  You can now schedule Facebook posts directly on Facebook; however, I found the scheduling feature not up to par with my needs and continue to use my third party application for scheduling on Facebook.  Seems I wasn’t the only one.  Read more about Facebook’s Scheduling Feature.

34.  Facebook launched Action Links as a new way for users to interact with Timeline Apps.  Third-party developers can designate an action link for any action they define on Facebook.  Learn more about Action Links from the Facebook Developers Blog.

35.  Facebook releases information to brands about how to drive engagement on their branded pages.  Find out how to drive the most engagement on your Facebook page straight from Facebook.

36.  Facebook allows brands to assign administrative roles to their pages.  Brands now have full control over what company employees or representatives have access to on their Facebook pages.  Learn about the five different Facebook admin roles.

37.  Facebook updates their auto-sharing mechanism.

38.  Think your link is getting through to Pinterest users on your board?  Think again.  Pinterest is now blocking link shorteners such as bit.ly, affiliate links, and any link with source code at the end for the purposes of tracking your marketing.  Read the details of the Pinterest Link Block.

39.  LinkedIn releases targeted status updates for your company page.  Watch the video on Targeted LinkedIn Status Updates for Your Company.

40.  Finally, someone to back me up! That’s what we’ve been saying. Marketers Have It Wrong: Forget Engagement, Consumers Want Simplicity.

41.  Here’s something you may have missed?  Did you know Google will help you get your site mobile ready?  Free premium service for a full year.  Check it out on GOMO.

42.  If you want to learn more about Reddit, the co-founders explain the community in this Reddit Video.

43.  If you think your Google Places page is looking the same, you got another thing comin’!  Google Places is now Google+ Local.  Reviews are different now, too.  Each Google+ Local is now scored using Zagat’s 30 point scale.  Google automatically switched your page over.  If you haven’t checked it out yet, you better.  You may have some additions and/or updates to perform.

44.  Is your site set up for Google Analytics Social Reporting?  Learn how to set up Google Analytics Social Reporting.

45.  Once you are set up for Google Analytics Social Reporting:  Learn how to use the new Google Analytics Social Reporting Tool.

As you can see, social media networks have been very busy over the last 60 days – and we didn’t cover every last detail.  We highlighted the major updates we felt most important to share.  I’m sure we may have missed a few and there were many more minor updates announced over the course of the last couple months.

Do you have a social media update to share?  Please, post it in the comments below so we can all stay up-to-date on the latest social media announcements.

Tags: social media