Social Media Portal: Masterpiece breaks news on Instagram Live

Research & Reports

• A new study from Hootsuite and We Are Social reports that today, more than half of the world (51%) uses social media. The nine platforms with the highest global user adoption are shown on the chart below.
• New estimates from eMarketer predict that 62 million US adults will use LinkedIn on a monthly basis this year (25% of all adult Internet users). This is more users than Twitter (47 million), but less than Facebook (163 million), Instagram (98 million) and Pinterest (78 million).
• According to eMarketer, 51% of marketers are getting information about sentiment during the pandemic from social listening.

Social Media Headlines + Helpers

• Twitter hack reminds marketers to stay vigilant (The Social Shake Up Show)
• US moves to ban TikTok on all government-issued devices due to concerns around connection with China (Social Media Today)
• TikTok has a misinformation problem—and is turning to popular creators for help (Fast Company)
• How to measure success on social media via engagement rates (Business 2 Community)
• Facebook, Google, and Twitter agree to evaluate a mutual definition of hate speech (Axios)
• How to roll out a hybrid paid & organic social media strategy (Sprout Social)
• A guide to content curation using Pinterest (Business 2 Community)

WGBH Highlights

• Masterpiece broke big news during an Instagram Live chat with Grantchester stars Robson Green and Tom Brittney — the series is coming back for a sixth season!
• WGBH live streamed a packed virtual event “The State of Race” on Facebook and YouTube, giving audiences an opportunity to watch and engage on the topic of race’s intersections with COVID-19 with speakers from Boston NAACP, Boston Medical Center and the Boston Globe.
• WGBH News‘ new series for teens is being distributed on IGTV! The first two episodes test contestants’ knowledge of voter registration and campaign finance rules.
• As part of The World‘s regular series of live conversations about the coronavirus, this week’s discussion focused on the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on communities of color. Watch the replay on Facebook.
• Fan shout out of the week: Thanks to Lilly Singh for the Arthur love.

Public Media Highlight

• Shout out to PBS Digital Studios for their excellent GIPHY Channel (featuring new content from NOVA’s new series Parentalogic!)
• New week, new tip from the latest PBS NewsHour Q&A! This one is about social callouts: Use your social platforms to solicit feedback, sources or leads for new reporting or follow up stories. (Watch the full Q&A for more specific tips about social callouts.)

Platform Updates

• Reddit rolled out image galleries, allowing brand profiles to share up to 20 images or GIFs in a single post. Check out these examples from National Geographic, Serious Eats, Netflix and MLB.
• Twitter users can now view direct messages without leaving their timeline.
• Facebook and Instagram launched “Shops,” allowing direct purchases to products from business accounts. Facebook Shops globally has reported over 1 million businesses signed up.
• Snapchat launches “Minis” that allow for apps to be created within the Snapchat app, so friends can interact and play together. Minis at launch time include Headspace meditations, a Let’s Do It group decision interface, Mammoth Media’s Prediction Master and Tembo’s Flashcards.
• Instagram is testing the ability for users to start their own fundraising cause or link to an established organization via a profile page and process donations via Facebook Stripe. This program would join Donation Stickers for Stories and a Live Donations feature for livestreams, which launched earlier this year.

Spotlight on: Snapchat

• This article from HubSpot on how 13 brands are leveraging Snapchat Discover states that while branded channels have been a failure for media organizations, Snapchat Discover has been a successful way to reach that highly engaged audience, with over 50 publishing partners on board.
• This infographic from E-intelligence displays 13 ways to boost conversions on Snapchat, such as posting platform-specific content three times a day, using voice filters to grab attention and investing in sponsored lenses to entertain users. Additional tips include giving users exclusive access to behind-the-scenes stories, using the “swipe up” feature to direct people to your website and responding to posts from users.
• Social Media Today looks at Snapchat’s increasing array of augmented reality features, including advanced green screening effects and logo identification to unlock branded experiences.
• Forbes gives 11 uses of Snapchat’s geo-filter capabilities (note: this article was published pre-COVID!)
• Nevermind Quibi — Vulture reports that Snapchat has been producing successful, mobile-first storytelling for years.
• Here are five tips for creating effective augmented reality experiences on Snapchat.