Umpf / Blog / Friday Social: Influencer-only Murals, Music for Instagram Stories & Snapchat Gaming

Friday Social: Influencer-only Murals, Music for Instagram Stories & Snapchat Gaming

  • Social Media

Our #FridaySocial is a weekly round-up of the key social media news stories from the previous seven days.  Let us know your thoughts in the comments or via Twitter – @Umpf

‘Influencer-only’ mural causes controversy

Influencers have been flocking to LA this week to get their pic in front of a new mural – but all may not be as it seems.

The art work on Melrose Avenue is only available to use for those with more than 20,000 followers on Instagram, or those who have a blue tick.

There’s even a security guard on site to check.

Needless to say, it got people’s attention…

…But it seems it’s all just a marketing ploy to get people talking about a new show called ‘Like & Subscribe’. Sigh.

 

Facebook comes under fire (again)

This week news broke that Facebook is planning to patent a system that can activate the microphone on a user’s phone, using inaudible signals which are broadcast via a television.

According to The Guardian, an audio fingerprint embedded in TV shows or ads, inaudible to human ears, can trigger the phone or tablet to turn on the microphone and start recording.

The sound can then be matched to a database of content to allow Facebook to identify what the individual was watching – basically like Shazam but without the user controlling it.

Creepy, huh?

Read more here.

Instagram introduces video messaging

Users can now video chat with up to four people in Instagram Direct.

To start a video chat, swipe into your direct inbox and open the message thread, then tap the camera icon.

Users can minimise the video chat window and still use Instagram as usual whilst on the video call – without any other users seeing your screen.

It’s not the only update we’ve seen from Instagram this week as it’s also added….

Music for Instagram stories

Instagrammers can now add a soundtrack to their stories.

Users can search by song, genre or mood and can hear a preview before selecting as well.

You can even fast forward or rewind to the exact part of the song that you’re after.

A music icon will appear when you tap to add a sticker to a story – just tap it to open the music library.

You can also access it by swiping to the ‘music’ option of the camera.

Snapchat aims for gamers

Snapchat is reportedly looking into the potential launch of a gaming platform.

Rumours are that they’ve been working on the concept for over a year.

Could it be what the platform needs to win over some much-needed users?

Just watch this space.