Twitter’s New Button Lets You Accept Private Messages From Your Website
Twitter continues to push forward with its increased emphasis on its messaging feature, with the rollout of a new button for websites that allows visitors to privately message an individual or company directly. The feature, now one of several website buttons available, follows the company’s recent test of a change to brands’ customer support profiles’ that encouraged users to direct message, not tweet, at the business’s Twitter account. – Tech Crunch
Facebook Tests Video Ads With Sound Automatically Turned Up
Facebook has been testing autoplay video ads that load with the sound turned on, instead of off as usual, Facebook said Tuesday, confirming a report by Mashable of a test in Australia. “We’re running a small test in News Feed where people can choose whether they want to watch videos with sound on from the start,” a Facebook spokesman said. “For people in this test who do not want sound to play, they can switch it off in Settings or directly on the video itself. This is one of several tests we’re running as we work to improve the video experience for people on Facebook.” – AdAge
Snapchat is Growing Like Crazy, Report Says
Snapchat is about to have a couple of really good years. The company will see huge gains in the numbers of its U.S. users, according to a new report from market research firm eMarketer. Snapchat reports that right now it has about 150 million monthly active users worldwide. The company doesn’t break out how many of those users are in the United States, but eMarketer estimates that the app will have about 58.6 million monthly users in the U.S. in 2016. But those numbers are set to change dramatically, according to the company’s research. The firm predicts that the company will see a 27.2 percent increase in user growth in 2016 and another 13.6 percent increase in 2017. – Mashable
Is Facebook Looking To Counter Snapchat With LifeStage?
Looking to maintain its “cool” quotient and prevent young users from migrating to other platforms, Facebook recently launched an iOS app called “Lifestage” for users under the age of 21. This video app, which looks relatively similar to Snapchat, allows users to share video within their networks. As the popularity of other social media platforms such as Snapchat increases among young users (more than 60% of U.S. smartphone users between the ages 13 and 34 use Snapchat) this launch appears to be Facebook’s move to attract and keep younger users. Reviews have been mixed so far, but a successful video product could provide a boost to the company’s revenues. – Forbes
Pinterest Buys Instapaper, the Popular ‘Read Later’ App
Pinterest embodies aspiration. The service lets you create and share visual bookmarks that reflect a certain intention. Maybe you hope to be a more stylish dresser, or decorate a cozier home. Now, Pinterest is doubling down on this idea with its acquisition of Instapaper, an app that’s all about what you aspire to read. The San Francisco-based company has agreed to acquire the team and technology behind Instapaper, a tool that helps you save webpages for later reading. – WIRED
