Friday Social: Facebook Paper, #GuardianCam and The GRAMMYs social show
- Social Media
Our #FridaySocial is a weekly round-up of the key social media news stories from the previous seven days.
1. Facebook Paper
Yesterday, Facebook announced it will be launching an app which will provide a new way to discover your friends’ stories alongside all-new topics; the first product from Facebook Creative Labs, called Paper.
With an emphasis on beautiful and immersive design, Paper is made of customisable themed sections so you can follow your favourite interests – from photography and design to food and sport. Each section includes a rich mix of content from emerging voices and well-known news sites and blogs.
The app will be available for iPhone in the US on February 3rd, however Facebook had not yet announced when the app will come to the UK, or whether it will offer a version for Android.
Introducing Paper from Facebook on Vimeo.
2. One show, one social media account, one woman
It’s the biggest event in the music industry’s calendar, yet the official GRAMMYs social media account is run by just one woman. Tasked with running all the activity on the ‘big day’ (as well as getting music-lovers excited all year round), Lindsay Gabler (@lndsygblr), the senior marketing manager of social media for the Recording Academy, compares her role to that of a sports commentator.
Speaking to Mashable, Gabler says: “a huge part of what we do is making sure that we’re tracking the conversation, so we can be fluid and adjust to what people are talking about, what’s trending and what kind of content we should be putting out.”
Activity included live tweeting, live Facebook updates and live GIF-ing on Tumblr; “It’s definitely a challenge” Gabler adds.
When the official #GRAMMYs hashtag garnered over 34 million social media interactions on the day, across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Instagram, it’s certainly an impressive feat (and an enviable job to have!).
Read more social media stats from the GRAMMYs here.
3. #GuardianCam
As part of a new social media project called #GuardianCam, Guardian journalists will be taking over the Guardian’s official Instagram account each week whilst on assignment, to showcase breaking stories from around the world.
Combining photography, video, news and conversation all in one source, Instagram will be giving Guardian readers unprecedented access to its stories. So far, we’ve seen behind the scenes at the White House, been right at the front of the chemical leak in West Virginia and watched a mini-documentary on Syrian refugees. Plus, selfies all in the name of journalism…
Follow along this Sunday for coverage of the NFL Super Bowl: San Francisco 49ers v Seattle Seahawk.
4. Pinterest’s New Interests Tool
This week, Pinterest announced a new tool that will allow its users to search and discover new pins tailored to their interests. The new feature works by pulling customised recommendations based on your existing pins, meaning the more you pin, the more changes you’ll see within the Interests feature.
Pinterest explains: “we’re working hard to make Pinterest as relevant as possible for each person so it can be a place you can find and save all of the things you love, even if you didn’t even know you were looking for them. This is the beginning of bringing you more great experiences for your unique interests.”
To view the new feature, select “Preview! Explore Interests” in the categories menu on Pinterest. Pinterest plans to roll out this new feature to all users shortly, including mobile.
Pinterest has also confirmed that it is currently testing out an additional feature; GIFs: “we’ve heard from the community that they’d like the ability to post and view GIFs as pins, so we’re testing ways to make that happen.”
5. Instagram for Facebook pages
And finally, hello Facebook Pages integration with Instagram! By linking accounts, community managers will now have the option for all content posted on a brand Instagram account to be automatically shared on its Facebook Page. Currently this service is only available for iOS users, however Instagram is planning to make this feature available for Android users in the near future.
