Edition 2: May 2, 2014
- Snapchat adds more “Chat” to it’s “Snap” Yesterday Snapchat announced it’s biggest platform redesign to date. The popular image application has evolved from disappearing 10-second images to 24-hour Stories, and now live instant chatting. According to their blog they felt the app lacked “presence.” With University’s, like UofMichigan, and large brands now adopting communication strategies for the network, this could prove to be a valuable feature.
- “Yik”ety Yak, Don’t Talk Back
If you don’t get that reference, allow me to introduce you to the 1950’s hit. My Grandma is going to be so proud.
She would also be terrified by this new app, targeted at college age youth, but quickly causing havoc among the high school population. Yik Yak allows users to post purely anonymous messages online to anyone and everyone within a given radius of the creator’s location. Not surprisingly the five-month-old platform has given birth to a whole new level of cyber bullying. See NBC’s Today Show special feature.
- I chat, you chat…how about “We Chat?”
The latest venture in global UMSocial sharing, this week Michigan News Service launched on We Chat. The network, created in China, allows for across mobile platform sharing via text, voice messaging, and photo/video sharing. The app was launched in 2011 and now boasts over 355 million monthly active users, primarily in Asia. However as it expands, it is billing itself in advertisements as a better alternative to Facebook.
We Chat’s closest competitor is more likely WhatsApp, which as you remember from lasts weeks #5Things, was recently purchased by Facebook. Coincidence?
- F8 Welcome to a more mature Facebook.
- Anonymous Login Plagued by the notion that our images could appear in the latest local singles advertisement in the Facebook side bar, utilizing our account credentials to sync platforms has been met with much skepticism. New Anonymous Login will allow users to log in to apps without the risk of sharing personal data or information with developers.
- Send to Mobile So long copy, paste, and email to yourself sharing. With Send to Mobile you can now send links seamlessly from mobile to desktop.
- App Links Primarily a developer function, App Links will let us link other apps straight from our apps, bypassing the mobile web. Increasing cross-app promotion.
- Facebook Audience Network Meet Facebook’s mobile ad network, where 1 million advertisers can now place ads into third-party apps.
- Business Manager While not a result of the conference, Facebook did introduce us to their newest tool Monday. Business Manager let’s marketers and agencies manager multiple campaigns from a centralized location. Features include; a workflow mechanism, secure sharing, delegated permissions, and supposedly solves the problem of adding admins without having to friend them. Full Conference Highlights
- Foursquare ÷ 2 = Swarm Keeping up with your friends and discovering new places will now be done separately as Foursquare announces the unbundling of its most recognizable features into two applications. The soon to be unveiled Swarm will be your go to for check-ins, as a reimaged Foursquare aims to take on the likes of Yelp as your go to location based recommendation source.
