10 Yetis Insight - Social Media Round-Up blog - Live 360 videos, LinkedIn small talk & Instagram Bookmarks

Hi everyone, Rhodri here! I hope the working week has treated you well. I’m here again with some of the latest news and updates in social media for you, check it out!

Facebook launches Live 360 Video

Facebook has now launched 360-degree live video (hell to the yeah!). On Tuesday they showcased a 360 video broadcast from the Mars desert facility in Utah. (https://www.facebook.com/natgeo/videos/10154187427528951/)

The feature will be rolled out to pages and users over time in the New Year. Interestingly, YouTube actually launched 360 video back in April, but as of yet the feature has not really taken off due to limited content. 360-degree cameras are now being made highly accessible though, particularly by Samsung, meaning soon everyone will have the capabilities to create 360 content.

Mark Zuckerberg believes the evolution of 360-degree video will in time create a virtual space where people can interact with each other, here’s a demo he posted back in October:

Facebook Frames

Facebook is currently rolling out a very Snapchat-like feature called Facebook Frames. It is very much like the Geo-filter tool in the Snapchat application. The feature was actually launched a while back in 2015, but the difference is now Facebook Frames allows users to create and submit their own picture frames which will then be searchable online by anyone using the application. The Frames are very much the same as Geofilters in that they will appear around the borders of a photo users post and they will be linked to events or locations. The main difference with Frames however, is that it is completely free to use at the moment.

LinkedIn conversation starters

LinkedIn is trying to help make it a little easier to start a conversation once users have connected with each other on their platform. They say they know it can be a little daunting starting a conversation with somebody you don’t know or have not spoken to in a long time and want to help break the ice a little. LinkedIn say conversation is at the heart of what they are trying to achieve on the site and are trying to improve their users messaging so they’ve introduced three main conversation starters:

• Updating users on their connections activity – This way you can congratulate users on special occasions like getting a new job or reaching a milestone at their job. You can also comment on anything they may have published.
• Shared experiences – Users can connect on things that they have in common, for example, previous employers, educational institutes or groups etc.
• Shared connections – users can interact by talking about shared connections that they have.

The idea is that these conversations starters will save LinkedIn users time as they won’t have to spend time thinking about what to say to each other as much.

Facebook introduce ‘Parents Portal’

Much like the features Twitter and Instagram have recently introduced that were mentioned in last week’s Yeti round-up, Facebook has created a ‘Parents Portal’ to help educate younger users about social media. Online bullying and abuse is an ongoing problem on many social media platforms and Facebook are pointing out that it is younger users who are the most vulnerable and in need of protection and education.

Parents Portal is essentially a resource centre with a wealth of information for parents so that they can better understand what goes on online and how they can deal with any issues that may arise. They provide three main areas in the tool:

• The Safety Centre – this provides the selection of all the tools available to help on Facebook, there are videos and PDF’s that explain each feature.
• The Bullying Prevention Hub – this has areas for teen’s parents and educators and tells you how to deal with online bullying.
• The Parents Portal – This is the parent’s portal itself that gives advice on how to help and educate children online.

Snapchat Group Chats

Snapchat has now introduced a group chat feature that allows up to 16 users to interact in the same chat group. These groups can be created as part of a new chat or when sending a specific snap. Normal snapchat rules apply, each picture will be erased 24 hours after the initial sending and the recipients will only be able to view and reply the video or image once. You’ll also be able to see all the names of the members that are in a group too.

Instagram give you the ability to save posts

Up until now there’s not really been a way of saving Instagram posts, you can take a screenshot if you are using your smartphone but there has not really been a way to save your favourite posts within the app. Now Instagram have introduced a feature that lets users bookmark posts so they can view them again later. Once you’ve updated the app, you can just tap on an icon at the bottom of the post to view it again later. Users saved photos will be private and only viewable by them, Instagram believe this will help people to be more creative on the app by creating catalogues of different content for ideas. It will also come in very handy now that shopping on Instagram has become a reality.