February 15 and 16, were two days of major announcements for four social networks. Let us have a look at what the near future holds for the social media experience.
Celebrities can now have their Facebook accounts verified and choose to display nicknames if they want. However, this is an invitation-only process, and regular users will not be able to know which accounts have been verified or not.
According to Techcrunch, "Those with verified accounts will gain more prominent placement in Facebook’s “People To Subscribe To” suggestions."
Last December, Twitter announced its major redesign centered around four major tabs: Home, Discover, Connect and Me. Until February 16, only mobile device users had had access to it.
The new Twitter version is officially available to everyone. Here is a short list of features:
- Expand tweets by hovering over them and clicking "expand". Type "L" to undo.
- Monitor new followers, as well as who mentions you, RTs your content and marks your tweets as favourites in "Connect". Typing "GC" will display the Connect Tab.
- Find information based on your location, interests, language, the people you follow, and global trends in "Discover". Type "GD" to bring the Discover tab.
For more details about the new redesign, take the tour take the tour.
YouTube
YouTube released some exciting new features on February 16.
Users can now promote their Google+ profile or Page on their channel, and display videos and playlists in their feed. Click the Feed tab in the menu section. Enter a comment in the "Post to Feed" box, then add a link to feature. Once the message and video have been posted, your subscribers will be notified in their Homepage feed.
You may also have noticed a “+more” button under videos in the Homepage feed. This button aggregates all user activity around videos, including who uploaded and favourited the videos, as well as comments and likes.
Finally, the Annotations Editor boasts more customizing options: a new annotation type, full color palette, new timeline, annotation styles...
LiveJournal
If you are a blogger, you have probably either heard of or used LiveJournal. On February 15, the community-based social network launched LJ Media, a new social publishing group.
The goal of this new initiative is to give select LiveJournal communities the opportunity to become thriving media sites. According to a press release, "LiveJournal communities that accept the invitation to become a part of LJ Media are offered marketing support through homepage exposure, advertising, social media and promotions. Additionally, LJ Media provides these communities with special technical advantages such as custom widgets that highlight featured posts and top commenters. LJ Media communities can also elect to participate in an affiliate revenue program."
So far, seven communities have accepted the invitation, including Oh No They Didn't (ONTD), ONTD Political, ONTD Games, Anything Diz, Arama They Didn't, Craftgrrl, and VaginaPagina. LiveJournal expects to add at least 33 more communities to the LJ Media list by the end of the year.
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Cendrine Marrouat may be contacted for potential interviews, reviews and general enquiries at info@cendrinemarrouat.com. Website: www.cendrinemarrouat.com.
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