Social Media Sunday: Facebook Helps You Shadow Block Your Ex & Google Plus Gets Resurrected
This week in social media, Facebook introduced a new tool for the heartbroken. Meanwhile Snapchat and Twitter could be in trouble with investors, and Google Plus was resurrected with a new look and a couple of new features.
It's time for Social Media Sunday!
Tools to Block Your Ex, Without 'Blocking' Your Ex
This week, Facebook announced it was beginning trials for a new toolset for users going through a breakup. You may be aware that one of the most common pieces of advice for anyone that just broke up with a romantic partner is to go "no contact": no calling, no texting, and now in the age of social media, no Facebook stalking.
The new tools introduced by Facebook on Thursday are designed to help people at the end of a relationship do just that -- without having to unfriend or block their former significant other altogether.
Facebook product manager Kelly Winters described the new feature called "Take a Break" in Facebook's newsroom blog.
"The tools give people the option to quickly and easily: See less of a former partner's name and profile picture around Facebook without having to unfriend or block them," wrote Winters. "Their posts won't show up in News Feed and their name won't be suggested when people write a new message or tag friends in photos."
On the other side of the coin, the "Take a Break" feature helps users avoid being stalked by their exes, by limiting the photos, videos or status updates that a former partner can see -- as well as untagging themselves from previous posts with that person.
It's rolling out in the U.S. first to the Facebook mobile apps, and will automatically appear if and when you change your relationship status to single. It will also be available in the Facebook app's "Help Center" by searching "Take a Break," though right now it's not universally available while it's still rolling out.
A New Messenger for Facebook at Work
Facebook at Work hopes to take on other workplace communication platforms like Slack with similar features, but with the advantage that most of the connected world already have Facebook profiles.
Now it's adding standalone messaging features with a new app called "Work Chat." It's basically exactly the Facebook Messenger app but only for chatting with work friends. It allows text, VoIP calls, and stickers, as well as creating groups. Right now it's only available for Android, but according to TechCrunch, Facebook says the iOS app will be available soon.
Analyst Says Stock Value Is On the Brink, For Better or Worse
This week, as Twitter played up its Moments feature in a television ad blitz, analysts on Wall Street are seeing the company's success or failure with its user experience as a make or break moment.
According to The Motley Fool, this week Twitter analyst for MKM Partners Rob Sanderson released a note to investors saying that the company's stock price could go either up or down in the near future by a full order of magnitude, depending on the company's performance.
"User-experience success or failure could make Twitter a $100 or $10 stock," wrote Sanderson in his investors' note. "We continue to believe that Twitter has a strong and unique content story with mass-market applicability," he wrote optimistically, but later added, "A difficult user experience, high attrition and declining engagement continue to be challenges."
Snapchat
Valuation Could Slip Over Ad Revenue Worries
As we previously reported, Snapchat is charging blockbuster prices for single-day ad campaigns on its hit social media network, but analysts are wondering if the half-million dollar sticker shock is succeeding for marketers. According to Reuters, while the company is valued at an incredible $16 billion, investors are beginning to be concerned if the company's ad products and performance is justifying that valuation.
Specifically, worries are forming over the fact that Snapchat hasn't developed tools to target specific users or measure how the ads are performing. It may be one of the reasons why Fidelity Investments marked the value of its Snapchat holding by 25 percent last week, as TechCrunch reported.
Going After 2016 Political Ad Spending
Meanwhile, Snapchat is still on the hunt for more advertisers, and according to the Washington Post, the coming year of heavy political advertising is the company's next prospective target.
Snapchat recently commissioned a poll to prove how politically engaged its users are, finding that two-thirds of those on the ephemeral messaging site were likely to vote in the 2016 election. WaPo described the results of the poll (paid for by Snapchat) as "iffy."
But the one thing that just the existence of that poll, itself, predicts is that Snapchat is certainly interested in going after the political ad dollar, and next year is the perfect opportunity to do it.
Google Plus
Big Redesign, Big Comeback?
You don't hear much about Google Plus, the often-mocked social media attempt by the otherwise successful Mountain View company. But this week, Google Plus got a huge makeover on the web and apps.
Besides a UI facelift, the new Google+ introduces two new features that the company hopes will attract people to the site, and differentiate it from other social media rivals: Communities and Collections. "Whether it's the Nonfiction Addiction Community, where people can be found discussing the best in Crime or Travel storytelling, or the Watch Project Collection, where more than 40,000 people are following an antique watch hobbyist," wrote Google in its announcement, "these are the places on Google+ where people around the world are spending their time discovering and sharing things they love.
To put it more simply, both new features basically ways for strangers to meet on the web over common interests, except on Google+ instead of Reddit.