Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Will.
1. Twitter provides more context on trending topics
Twitter is making efforts to provide its users with additional information about why a topic might be trending. By collaborating with The Associated Press and Reuters, Twitter is looking to improve the way that it keeps users informed around its trending topics. As a result, Twitter will be able to increase the level of context it can provide around popular topics of conversation. Currently, the only information provided on the top trends is any additional information that is included through either Twitter Moments, tweets, or a description.
Some of the key ways Twitter is looking to improve the delivery of information include:
- Scale: Users can expect to see additional context through descriptions of Twitter trends.
- Speed: Information about popular topics of conversation will be provided in real-time.
- Accuracy: Through the collaboration, Twitter will be able to provide accurate information on topics where the facts are being questioned.
- Trustworthiness: The ability to link out to reports from trusted sources to provide additional information.
In addition to the above, Twitter will aim to provide information on topics before they go viral in an attempt to reduce the spread of misinformation. In a world where fake news is a serious problem, having additional information around popular topics is only a positive.
2. Understanding Instagram’s Reels algorithm
For social media managers and digital marketers, understanding how different social media algorithms work is an ongoing challenge – it’s something that I’ve previously written about on the Browser Media blog.
Thankfully, Instagram has recently provided information on the key factors involved in ranking Reels in order to help users maximise reach. The below post explains everything from how they determine which Reels to show a user, important signals that can boost reach, and things to avoid as they may limit distribution.
View this post on Instagram
3. Disappearing WhatsApp messages
WhatsApp’s new feature is taking a leaf out of Snapchat’s playbook through the addition of disappearing photos and videos.
New feature alert!
You can now send photos and videos that disappear after they’ve been opened via View Once on WhatsApp, giving you more control over your chats privacy! pic.twitter.com/Ig5BWbX1Ow
— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) August 3, 2021
This new feature adds a new communication option for users and the auto-erasing images and videos will add an extra level of security, as explained by WhatsApp:
“As with all the personal messages you send on WhatsApp, View Once media is protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot see them. They will also be clearly marked with a new “one-time” icon.”
This new feature is due to be rolled out to all users over the coming weeks, for more information about how the feature works check out WhatsApp’s announcement.
4. New YouTube insights on ‘evergreen’ content
Recently, Youtube has started testing a new element in their Studio Analytics that will help provide insight into how older videos are helping a channel grow. As explained in a recent video, the new insights will aim to provide:
“Insights around evergreen videos as additional drivers to help you understand how overall channel performance, specifically views, are changing over time.”
This new feature will help users to understand how their older videos are performing, which in turn will help to plan content for the future. From a search perspective, we are huge advocates of evergreen content, and it’s great to see YouTube highlight the importance of this type of content.
This is important information to understand as while you want to understand how your recent videos are performing, it’s equally crucial to understand how older videos have helped to build your channel. For certain videos, it can sometimes take a long time for them to reach their peak which can be disheartening for creators. Therefore, having this information available will help to resolve their concerns.
5. Breathtaking BMX
With the Tokyo 2021 2020 Olympics drawing to a close this weekend it’s time to reflect on what has been an incredible few weeks. I always love The Olympics as it’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself in sports that you may have never even considered following. I’ve found myself enthralling in archery, gymnastics, and BMX over the past few weeks.
It’s been a brilliant campaign for Team GB but one of the most impressive performances in my eyes was Charlotte Worthington’s gold medal performance in the freestyle BMX final.
I can’t say I have any knowledge of BMX, but I was absolutely glued to the final.
Check out the full performance here:
