February 2020 Social Media Updates You Need to Know

In this month’s social media roundup, we’re covering:

…and more!

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Welcome, Byte – The “Vine Reboot”

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Launched by one of Vine’s cofounders, Byte launched on January 24. The app has the same 6-second time limit that Vine had. (Quick refresher: Twitter purchased Vine in 2013 and then shut it down while in cost-cutting mode in 2016.)

The big differentiator so far is a major focus on Content Creators (their tagline is “Creativity First”). Monetization for content creators is been built-in from the get-go (there’s currently a Google Form to apply to be part of the pilot program).

TBD on how Byte will fair compared to Vine in the long run (not to mention compared to TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, …), however, Byte’s first-week downloads surpassed Vine’s according to SensorTower.

Vine and Byte: First Week Downloads chart

To learn more, check out byte.co or download the app for iOS or Android.

Sorry: That Twitter Edit Button Won't Be Coming Anytime Soon

Twitter users (and marketers) have been begging for the ability to edit Tweets after publishing for years. In February 2019, CEO Jack Dorsey went on the Joe Rogan Show and gave the impression that an Edit button was a very real possibility.

A year later and those hopes have been dashed by another Dorsey statement, this time to Wired:

“The answer is no. The reason there's no edit button [and] there hasn't been an edit button traditionally is we started as an SMS text messaging service. So as you all know, when you send a text, you can’t really take it back. We wanted to preserve that vibe and that feeling in the early days.”

(Fun fact: He also revealed that the bird in Twitter’s logo was named Larry, after the former Boston Celtic Larry Bird.)

A full video Q&A with Dorsey has other interesting insights such as the reason for Twitter’s character limit, his feelings on regulation, and more.

Try on Makeup with a New Pinterest AR Feature

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A new Pinterest feature called Try On (powered by Pinterest’s “Lens” AR technology) will now allow users to try out different colors and shades of makeup. The “try on” button will appear on select products, as well as in search results with related terms (for example “matte lipstick” or “red lips”).

The motivation for this feature comes with Pinterest’s inclusivity push: The platform noted they have “integrated Try On with [the] skin tone range feature, so Pinners can see similar lip shades on skin tones that match their own.”

If you’re interested in integrating this or another AR feature with your brand, you can request access via online form.


TikTok Now Provides a Desktop Upload Option

Many social media marketers have yet to dive into TikTok, but it may get easier to dip your toes in the water now that the company has rolled out desktop publishing capabilities. As detailed in Social Media Today,

Want to try it out for yourself? Just head to https://www.tiktok.com/upload/ (note: you will need to log into a TikTok account).


Facebook’s Off Facebook Activity Tool

Seemingly in a never-ending struggle to move beyond privacy concerns, Facebook has rolled out another tool to help users understand how the platform is using their data. The new Off-Facebook Activity Tool, according to the Washington Post, will explain “exactly how Facebook stalks you — even when you’re not using Facebook.”

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According to Facebook’s announcement:

“Off-Facebook Activity lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that send us information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to. This is another way to give people more transparency and control on Facebook.”

To Facebook’s credit, the website dedicated to this tool may be the most clarifying content they have put together on how FB makes use of user data. It’s worth checking out for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/off-facebook-activity.

You can also learn more in the Help center.

The tool is part of a greater 2020 push to promote Facebook’s privacy initiatives, which includes other features like a Privacy Checkup tool and new notifications with info about information shared with third-parties.


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UncategorizedMatthew Dooley