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In this weekly list, we compile the tweaks and changes you should know about what for a lot of us is our most common point-of-interaction with technology: social media. From Facebook to Reddit, these platforms aren’t static; they’re constantly changing. We keep track of the most important and most intriguing changes here.
This week, we see more social media players roll out improvements to their platforms. From new apps to low-key feature testing, Facebook continues to tweak their user’s experiences whether it’s being able to share more or read less. Pinterest continues to grow and keep their users happy by adding new features, while Spotify takes on Apple Messages. Read up on this week’s updates!
Skype now recognizes Microsoft Family Accounts
Skype now automatically adds members of your Microsoft family account under a “My Family” group. This group and chat creation requires no setup, and you can simply leave or delete members within the messaging app without affecting the main family membership status. Microsoft family accounts allow the adults to modify child account settings, screen time, as well as share purchases.
Pinterest celebrates its 200 million users with upcoming features
Pinterest has announced that it will be working on new features inspired by user suggestions. Pinners will soon be able to curate their boards even more carefully using sections. As the company says, it’s a highly requested “boards within boards” feature that will slowly roll out. They will be inviting users to test more of the upcoming features, but there are no reports yet as to what these will be.
Instagram continues to share ‘Stories’
Image from Instagram
Last week, we learned that Instagram is working on publishing Stories directly to Facebook, and now there are even more ways to share them. On September 12, Instagram announced on its blog that users can now share Stories they have viewed to friends’ and groups’ Direct Inboxes. Users may opt out by changing their account settings, while private accounts can only be shared among followers.
Twitter experimenting with “Tweetstorms?”
A reader/developer sent in a tip to The Next Web (TNW) after seeing a possible new feature from Twitter. In this particular discovery, there are hints that Twitter may soon enable publishing tweetstorms, which are basically lengthy content (over 140 characters) published as a quick succession of tweets. A third-party app, Tweetstorm.io, will allow you to compose tweetstorms in lieu of manually doing it on your own in any given Twitter app. According to TNW, Twitter has not commented on this speculation yet.
This week’s Facebook’s updates
CRISIS CENTER. Facebook is rolling out an one-stop hub for disasters and crises. Image from Facebook
A new app from Facebook dropped on Denmark’s iOS Store this week: Bonfire. This seemingly discreet release was spotted by Matt Navarra of The Next Web. The social media giant announced back in July that it was creating the standalone video chat app. It’s been predicted to rival another hit app, Houseparty, that has a strong teenage user base akin to Snapchat. It’s no secret that Facebook has struggled to keep this specific demographic locked on to the mother platform, so this particular reach makes a lot of sense.
A developer tipped the same website on a possible new feature after coming across a “Create A Private Profile” button in Facebook’s latest Android Package Kit (APK). There are no definite reports yet as to what a private profile would look like for users, but currently there are already ways to fine-tune profile privacy settings.
Select users are also now able to unfollow friends, Pages, and Groups temporarily. TechCrunch reports that the snooze feature is currently being tested to allow users to opt out of seeing unwanted posts for 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days. The feature is not yet available, and we’re yet to find out whether it’s one that will stick.
A Crisis Response center is now live on Facebook as a means to put its safety features together. Safety Check, News Links, Community Help, and Fundraisers are now conveniently accessible in one spot. This would certainly be useful to users who want to tune into the news, as well as focus on updates from their friends and communities.
Spotify is now on iMessage
You may now send your friends 30-second song snippets from Spotify via iMessage. Unlike Apple Music in which you’d have to be listening to the song in order to share it, you can search Spotify’s entire database without accessing the app. It launches a rather large player in the conversation window with a “Play on Spotify” button. However, you can’t really listen to entire tracks through the iMessage app and will have to open Spotify to enjoy the full song. – Rappler.com
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