Friday Social: Twitter Lite, Monkmania, and #NuggsForCarter

  • Social Media

It’s Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, so here’s a special early edition of the #FridaySocial, 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

Twitter Suggestion Bot

Twitter is testing a customer service support bot that listens to suggestions and complaints. The new @support account will handle basic enquiries and currently focuses on five categories: Accounts, Abuse, Impersonalisation, General, and #TwitterTips.

Head over to Buzzfeed to see more.

April - Buzzfeed

Twitter Lite

Slow mobile networks and expensive data plans are something we’ve all experienced at one time or another. Twitter is attempting to break down those barriers with Twitter Lite, a new mobile web experience that reduces data usage, loads quickly on slow connections, and takes up less space on your device.  Twitter Lite provides the standard features we are all familiar with; tweets, direct messages, notifications and a timeline, but means that, despite its recent troubles, Twitter is set to become more and more accessible to people around the world.

According to Twitter, Twitter Lite is the brand’s way of reaching people in emerging markets across Asia, Latin America and Africa. It has partnered with Vodafone in India to promote Twitter Lite as a way to receive live sports updates.

The Big M

Facebook’s automated assistant, M will now offer suggestions to users in Messenger conversations. According to Facebook, M will suggest relevant content and capabilities to “enrich the way people communicate and get things done.”

Suggestions from M appear when it recognises intent in a conversation. The feature will include these actions:

Sending stickers: M shares sticker suggestions for common interactions like “Thank you” or “Bye-bye.”

Paying or requesting money: M recognises when people are discussing payments and gives them the option of easily sending or requesting money.

Sharing your location: M can suggest sharing your location.

Making plans: If Messenger users are talking about meeting up, M helps co-ordinate a plan.

Starting a poll (in group conversations only): M lets you set a poll topic and vote in group conversations.

Getting a Ride: M shares transport options if users are discussing where to go.

M’s suggestions are currently only available to users in the US, but will be rolled out worldwide pretty soon.

April - Facebook

Passwords and Passports

The Guardian has reported that a new policy being considered by the Trump administration could see tourists from the UK facing a choice of either handing over their social media passwords and mobile phone contacts, or being refused entry to the country. According to Trump administration officials, travellers could be forced to reveal their personal data, including financial information, and may face ideological questioning.

How would you feel about disclosing the passwords to your Twitter or Facebook accounts?

“Monkmania”

Move over Trudeau, there’s a new Canadian internet sensation sweeping the UK’s Twitter feeds! Captain of the Wolfson College Cambridge University Challenge team, Eric Monkman, his lightning-speed answers, and his furrowed brow have become the highlight of many people’s Monday evening.

April - BBC

In a classic Oxford vs Cambridge head-to-head, Balliol College Oxford faced Monkman and his team in a final bid to take home this year’s title.  Monkmania was certainly rife and saw #Monkman trending just below #UniversityChallenge, and the promoted hashtag #PrisonBreak, throughout the show.

Unfortunately Wolfson failed to take home the prize, but viewers couldn’t help but be charmed by how elated the whole team were when they got to meet the one and only Stephen Hawking.

Snapchat Encourages Young People to Vote

This week the Scottish Electoral Commission has teamed up with Snapchat in a bid to reach young voters ahead of the upcoming local elections, launching a voter registration Snapchat filter to remind users to sign up before Monday 17th April.

According to Electoral Commission research, young people are less likely to be registered than older voters, with only 69% of 18- to 34-year-olds correctly registered in Great Britain compared to 96% of those aged 65 and over.

Craig Westwood, Director of Communications and Research at the Electoral Commission told Marketing Week: “Working with Snapchat gives us a fantastic opportunity to reach a typically under-registered audience and let young people in Scotland know that they can use their voice in these elections.”

April - Marketing Week

…and Snapchat Encourages People to Apply for Jobs

Over in Australia, food giant McDonald’s has teamed up with Snapchat to allow job seekers the opportunity to apply for a role via the app.

The Snapchat filter superimposes applicants with a McDonald’s uniform and gives them just 10 seconds to introduce themselves and impress their potential employers. Snap-plications (you can thank me later, Snapchat) can be submitted to the McDonald’s Snapchat account.

April - Lovin Manchester

Did you see our NHS Apprenticeships Snapchat filter back in March? If not, take a peek at the Friday Social video hosted by Billy to find out more:

#NuggsForCarter

“HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS” – Carter Wilkerson, 2017. 

A student from Reno, Nevada has launched a grand chicken mission. Fast food chain Wendy’s has promised that if he can garner 18 million retweets, they will reward him with a year of free nuggets. Impossible, some may say, especially considering the current most retweeted tweet received just 3.4 million, but brands and celebrities are making full use of the trend and have tweeted in support:

https://twitter.com/aaronpaul_8/status/850560916156370944

https://twitter.com/memetribute/status/851168185017610240

With a box of nuggs (and potentially a BBQ sauce accompaniment) at stake, our very own Ali and Adrian are also eagerly awaiting the result: