While we weather the Game of Thrones hiatus, the social media battle for the iron throne of conversion will just have to do. This week, Facebook’s play for Amazon, Instagram’s notes from the Facebook playbook, Amazon’s move on Etsy and Twitter has a new, blue dot that deserves a dislike.
Who Doesn’t Like to See Their Friends Fail Now and Then?
Facebook announced it’s testing new emoji Reactions, broadening the depth of News Feed empathy from the comprehensive Like to a range of six expressions: Love, Haha, Yas!, Wow, Sad and Angry, which people can use to react to any post across Facebook. Reactions will also have the same impact on ad delivery and dictate which types of posts are displayed more frequently in users’ News Feeds. Page owners can track their posts’ Reactions through Insights.
Seven Kingdoms of Products
Before we get all sentimental, the quest for e-comm dom continues with Facebook’s expanded suite of in-app retail products, including a dedicated ‘Shop’ section that bills Pages as ‘retailers’ mobile solution’ and new Shopping feed that aggregates product posts.
A Dragon is Not A Slave
Not to be outdone by anyone, Amazon launched Handmade at Amazon, its new storefront for genuinely handmade items and bid for Etsy’s 21 million shoppers.
Winter Is Coming
With the frequency of ads in our Instagram feed increasing from one every 20 posts to one every three, it comes as no shocker that more than 50% of Instagram’s biggest fans hate it. And now that Insta ads are open to all, organic engagement is getting the big chill – meaning brands have to pay-to-play, or get creative.
Who Passes The Sentence Should Swing the Sword
Wasting zero time with old/new CEO Jack Dorsey at the helm, Twitter is cutting 8% of its staff (bonus read: Dorsey’s jargon-free memo ‘A more focused Twitter’). In good company, SnapChat also parted ways with a number of employees after scrapping its Snap Channel.
People are also pissed about that blue dot. If only there was a retweet reaction button for that, #angry. Maybe next week.
Defend the Wall
After discovering people in different places with different cultures pin different things, Pinterest made it easier for locals outside the U.S. to find the best pins being saved in their own country.
Words from the wise: “Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not.” – Tyrion Lannister
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