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Friday Social: #GBBO Spoilers, Russian Propaganda, and InstaStories Success

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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 / @GrittAlessandra

GBBO’s Spoiled Cake

SPOILERS AHEAD…

This week saw the final of the Great British Bake Off – one of the most hotly-anticipated television finals of the year (despite the controversial leap from the BBC to Channel 4).

However, the build-up was quashed by a mis-timed tweet from show judge Prue Leith:

Prue

Poor Prue. She has since issued an apology, blaming timezones for the error:

All isn’t lost, as it’s been reported that the final attracted 7.7 million viewers – the largest Channel 4 audience since the 2012 Paralympic Games.

We at Umpf HQ can’t be the only ones that thought it may have been a double-bluff, can we…?

Internet Giants Reveal Potential Russian Propaganda Figures

This week, representatives from Facebook, Twitter, and Google visited Washington D.C. to go before Congress to explain how their platforms have been used to spread misinformation by Russian sources during the 2016 US presidential election.

Facebook reportedly supplied more than 3,000 ads from Russian sources, while Twitter removed thousands of fake accounts used to churn propaganda.

While no platform nor Congress can confirm the influence these ads had on voter opinion, Recode points out that there’s no good outcome: if the ads worked, they’re responsible for influencing the election result or, if they didn’t work, why are we all paying for ads on the platforms anyway?

A selection of the posts promoted by Russian sources are below (from Fast Company):

Capture 2

Research Reveals Social Presents Trend

Now that Halloween is out of the way, there’s one thing on our minds: Christmas sandwiches. And with that, the thought of getting the Christmas shopping done…

Research by RadiumOne has revealed that eight in ten festive present givers and takers share Christmas-related content such as gift ideas and requests via email or social instant messaging.

Describing the content as ‘Dark Social’ – not to be confused with the soon-to-be-canned Dark Posts – the report found that 30% of consumers shared more content in this way in the run up to Christmas than normal.

Craig Tuck, Managing Director of RadiumOne UK, said: “Sharing behaviour is an indicator of consumer intent and the most likely moment they’ll interact with a brand. Our data shows that 61% of shoppers will also do a ‘big shop’ vs little and often. So harnessing the planning and sharing period is key in influencing consumers’ final purchase, and tracking sharing dark social is imperative at any point, but more so during the Christmas period where there is more to gain.”

 

Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status Success

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has this week announced that Instagram Stories and WhatsApp Status both now have 300 million daily active users – leaving Snapchat in the dust, with only 173 million.

Facebook has also announced record revenue and an all-time high share price during its Q3 earnings announcement. Profitability has grown 79% year-over-year to $4.7 billion, and Facebook itself now has 2.06 billion monthly active users.

And finally… this takes the biscuit.

If you read the Daily Mail, The Sun, or Mashable to name a few, you might’ve spotted Umpf Founder and MD in the news this week…

We’re hesitant to use the ‘V’ word, but after receiving some Halloween treats that are old enough to vote, Adrian’s tweet has gone well and truly viral.

Two bites of a grim biscuit for nationwide coverage? That’s the way the cookie crumbles.