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We want to limit use of e2e encryption, confirms UK minister http://ift.tt/2rs90mw The UK government has once again amped up its attacks on tech platforms’ use of end-to-end encryption, and called for International co-operation to regulate the Internet so that it cannot be used as a “safe space” for extremists to communicate and spread propaganda online. The comments by UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, and Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, come in the wake of another domestic terrorist attack, the third since March, after a group of terrorists used a van to plow down pedestrians in London Bridge on Saturday evening, before going on a knife rampage attacking people in streets and bars. Speaking outside Downing Street yesterday, May swung the finger of blame at “big” Internet companies — criticizing platform giants for providing “safe spaces” for extremists to spread messages of hate online. Early reports have suggested the attackers may have used YouTube to access extremist videos. “We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed. Yet that is precisely what the internet – and the big companies that provide internet-based services – provide,” May said. “We need to work with allied, democratic governments to reach international agreements that regulate cyberspace to prevent the spread of extremism and terrorist planning. And we need to do everything we can at home to reduce the risks of extremism online.” “We need to deprive the extremists of their safe spaces online,” she added. Speaking in an interview on ITV’s Peston on Sunday program yesterday, UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd further fleshed out the prime minister’s comments. She said the government wants to do more to stop the way young men are being “groomed” into radicalization online — including getting tech companies to do more to take down extremist material, and also to limit access to end-to-end encryption.
Rudd also attacked tech firms’ use of encryption in the wake of the Westminster terror attack in March, although the first round of meetings she held with Internet companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter in the wake of that earlier attack apparently focused on pushing for them to develop tech tools to automatically identify extremist content and block it before it is widely disseminated. The prime minister also made a push for international co-operation on online extremism during the G7 summit last month — coming away with a joint statement to put pressure on tech firms to do more. “We want companies to develop tools to identify and remove harmful materials automatically,” May said then. Though it is far from clear whether this geopolitical push will translate into anything more than a few headlines — given tech firms are already using and developing tools for automating takedowns. And the G7 nations apparently did not ink any specific policy proposals — such as on co-ordinated fines for social media takedown failures. On the extremist content front, pressure has certainly been growing across Europe for tech platforms to do more — including proposals such as a draft law in Germany which does suggest fines of up to €50 million for social media firms that fail to promptly takedown illegal hate speech, for example. While last month a UK parliamentary committee urged the government to consider a similar approach — and UK ministers are apparently open to the idea. But the notion of the UK being able to secure international agreement on harmonizing content regulation online across borders seems entirely fanciful — given different legal regimes vis-a-vis free speech, with the US having constitutional protections for hate speech vs hate speech being illegal in certain European countries. Again, these comments in the immediate aftermath of an attack seem mostly aimed at diverting attention from tougher political questions — including over domestic police resourcing; over UK ally Saudi Arabia’s financial support for extremism; and why known hate preachers were apparently allowed to continue broadcasting their message in the UK…
“Blaming social media platforms is politically convenient but intellectually lazy,” tweeted professor Peter Neumann, director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence. “Most jihadists are now using end-to-end encrypted messenger platforms e.g. Telegram. This has not solved problem, just made it different.” Responding to the government’s comments in a statement, Facebook’s Simon Milner, UK director of policy, said: “We want to provide a service where people feel safe. That means we do not allow groups or people that engage in terrorist activity, or posts that express support for terrorism. We want Facebook to be a hostile environment for terrorists. Using a combination of technology and human review, we work aggressively to remove terrorist content from our platform as soon as we become aware of it — and if we become aware of an emergency involving imminent harm to someone’s safety, we notify law enforcement. Online extremism can only be tackled with strong partnerships. We have long collaborated with policymakers, civil society, and others in the tech industry, and we are committed to continuing this important work together.” Facebook has faced wider criticism of its approach to content moderation in recent months — and last month announced it would be adding an additional 3,000 staff to its team of reviewers, bringing the global total to 7,500. In another reaction statement Twitter’s UK head of public policy, Nick Pickles, added: “Terrorist content has no place on Twitter. We continue to expand the use of technology as part of a systematic approach to removing this type of content. We will never stop working to stay one step ahead and will continue to engage with our partners across industry, government, civil society and academia.” Twitter details how many terrorism-related accounts it suspends in its Transparency Report — the vast majority of which it says it identifies using its own tools, rather than relying on user reports. On the controversial topic of limiting end-to-end encryption, a report in The Sun newspaper last month suggested a re-elected Conservative government would prioritize a decryption law to force social media platforms which are using e2e encryption to effectively backdoor these systems so that they could hand over decrypted data when served a warrant. The core legislation for this decrypt law already exists, aka the Investigatory Powers Act — which was passed at the end of last year. Following the General Election on June 8, a new UK Parliament will just need to agree the supplementary technical capability regulation which places a legal obligation on ISPs and communication service providers to maintain the necessary capability to be able to provide decrypted data on request (albeit, without providing technical detail on how any of this will happen in practice). Given Rudd’s comments now on limiting e2e encryption it seems clear the preferred route for an incoming Conservative UK government will be to pressure tech firms not to use strong encryption to safeguard user data in — backed up by the legal muscle of the country having what has been widely interpreted as a decrypt law. However such moves will clearly undermine online security at a time when the risks of doing so are becoming increasingly clear. As crypto expert Bruce Schneier couched it recently, the only way for the UK government to get the access it wants is “to destroy everyone’s security”. Moreover, a domestic decrypt law is unlikely to have any impact on e2e encrypted services — such as Telegram — which are not based in the UK, and would therefore surely not consider themselves bound by UK legal jurisdiction. And even if the UK government forced ISPs and app stores to block access to all services that do not comply with its decryption requirements, there would still be workarounds for terrorists to continue accessing strongly encrypted services. Even as law abiding users of mainstream tech platforms risk having their security undermined by political pressure on strong encryption. Commenting on the government’s planned Internet crackdown, the Open Rights Group had this to say: “It is disappointing that in the aftermath of this attack, the government’s response appears to focus on the regulation of the Internet and encryption. This could be a very risky approach. If successful, Theresa May could push these vile networks into even darker corners of the web, where they will be even harder to observe. “But we should not be distracted: the Internet and companies like Facebook are not a cause of this hatred and violence, but tools that can be abused. While governments and companies should take sensible measures to stop abuse, attempts to control the Internet is not the simple solution that Theresa May is claiming.” Meanwhile, asked about his support for encryption back in September 2015 — given the risks of his messaging platform being used by terrorists — Telegram founder Pavel Durov did not waver in his support for the technology. “I think that privacy, ultimately, and our right for privacy is more important than our fear of bad things happening, like terrorism,” he said. “Ultimately the ISIS will always find a way to communicate within themselves. And if any means of communication turns out to be not secure for them, then they switch to another one. So I don’t think we’re actually taking part in this activities. I don’t think we should feel guilty about this. I still think we’re doing the right thing — protecting our users privacy.”
Social Media via Twitter – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com June 4, 2017 at 11:33PM
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Stop putting 'Stories' in every friggin' app http://ift.tt/2rWarLy This needs to stop. Please make it stop. I'm not just talking about Trump making idiotic moves like pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement. (There seems to be no stopping Mr. Tiny Hands from flipping the bird to everything that we hold dear.) No, I'm talking about apps shamefully ripping off Snapchat Stories. As I've said many times before, this is all Facebook's fault. When Instagram (a Facebook-owned company) cloned the crap out of Snapchat Stories a year ago, we all shook our heads, pointed our fingers, and laughed at how scared it must have been to copy one of Snapchat's core features. And then everyone caved in and started using it. Whether that's because Instagram is a larger platform or Instagram Stories is easier to use than Snapchat Stories — it doesn't matter. People love Instagram Stories and it's destroying all of Snapchat. I admit, I tried my best to resist Instagram Stories — I already used Snapchat Stories, so why would I want to use a copycat? — but I gave in a few weeks ago, and now I rarely post anything to Snapchat Stories. Like my colleague Damon Beres wrote: I'm starting to love Instagram Stories more than Snapchat because I'm incredibly thirsty. I'm glugging down what Instagram is serving and I don't care anymore. Instagram's CEO Kevin Systrom said he doesn't think of Instagram Stories as just cloning Snapchat Stories, but considers "Stories" to be a desirable format for storytelling. It's like messaging. There are tons of messaging apps, but they're all fundamentally the same: you type out messages and they appear as bubbles. I guess that's true, but it doesn't change the fact that Instagram ripped Snapchat off.
No doubt, the success of Instagram Stories gave Facebook the confidence to paste "Stories" into its other apps. In January the Facebook app added Stories. Then, in February, Facebook-owned WhatsApp got its own Stories in the form of an updated "Status." And in March, Facebook Messenger also got Stories with "Messenger Day." Despite seemingly nobody using Facebook Stories — WhatsApp's Status has 175 million daily users and it's not clear how many people are using Messenger Day — others are now following in Facebook's footsteps of copying Snapchat Stories. The latest app to rip off Snapchat Stories is Skype with its "Highlights" — yeah, Skype, the app that ushered in VoIP to the masses and is about as cool as Microsoft Word. That is, they're both still widely used, but come on, nobody's hanging on Skype waiting for things to get lit. Skype is a utility, like the telephone, and you log in to chat with a person and then you log off. Fine, Skype's trying to reinvent itself to court the youngs. There's nothing wrong with that except I fear that this is only the beginning. By the end of the year, I expect more apps to add a "Stories" feature. What's next? Twitter Stories? Uber Stories? Apple Maps Stories? Apple Music Stories? Product designer Rafael Conde perfectly visualized the Stories-fication of apps a few months ago: LMFAO. Seriously, just LMFAO. I cracked up when my colleague Stan Schroeder tweeted this last month:
He's not alone. Look at all these jokesters. Stories may be the hot new thing at the moment, but you can't just force it into every app and expect people will jump onboard and lap it up. It needs to make sense. Stories, I'm sorry, Highlights, don't make any sense on Skype. Skype is not a damn social platform. It's a tunnel for connecting you to other people directly, not a nightclub like Snapchat or Instagram. So, app developers. Look at your app. Does it need a Stories feature? The answer is probably no. OK then, stop it before I delete your app. Social Media via Social Media http://ift.tt/1N1mMj1 June 4, 2017 at 11:24PM
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How to Manage Instagram via the Facebook Inbox http://ift.tt/2rVKN9B Ever wish you could manage your Instagram and Facebook comments and messages in one place? Have you heard of the Facebook Inbox? Facebook’s Inbox allows you to manage Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger comments and messages in a single location. In this article, you’ll discover how to use the Facebook Inbox to manage your Instagram account.
Access the Facebook InboxThe new Inbox feature for Facebook pages is rolling out globally now. Some users are getting access on their mobile devices first, while others are getting access on their desktops first. On desktop, you’ll know you have the new feature when the banner has an Inbox tab rather than the Messages tab. On your mobile device, the new layout is recognizable when the toolbar with your analytics, inbox, and notifications icons moves to the bottom of the screen. Once you have the updated Facebook Inbox, here’s how to start using it to manage your Instagram account. #1: Connect Your Facebook and Instagram AccountsIf you’ve already upgraded your Instagram account to a business profile and connected it to your Facebook page, when you open the new Facebook Inbox, you’ll get a notification that you can now read and reply to comments on your Instagram posts. This will update automatically in your Facebook business page app. If you haven’t already connected your Facebook and Instagram accounts, when you open your inbox and tap on the Instagram tab, you’ll be prompted to log into your Instagram account to complete the setup process. #2: Respond to Instagram Comments in the Facebook InboxOnce your Facebook and Instagram accounts are connected, you’ll see all of your Instagram comment notifications in your Facebook Inbox. On mobile, click the All tab to see all of your notifications from Messenger, your Facebook page, and your connected Instagram account. If you want to view only your Instagram notifications, tap the Instagram tab. You can view the thumbnail images of the posts that received comments, along with the first line of your captions. You’ll also see the usernames of people who recently left comments, along with the time of the most recent comment. Tap on a post notification to open that post’s comment thread in the inbox. On the next screen, you can view all of the comments on that post, including any comments you’ve made in response to others. Likewise, when you’re on desktop, navigate to the inbox on your Facebook page and click the Instagram tab in the left pane. Select one of the posts listed to see the comment notifications for that post. It’s important to note that some of the native engagement features you’re used to on Instagram aren’t available in the Facebook Inbox. There is no Reply feature to the comments left on your post when using your inbox. Instead, you have to manually type a person’s username to respond to them directly. Or if you slide a comment to the left, you’ll see a Reply button on the right. Tap the Reply button to populate the person’s username in the comment field. And yes, you can use this same function to access the delete option if you want to delete a comment from the post thread. You’ll also notice that the Instagram usernames aren’t hyperlinked or clickable so you can’t view their profiles from the inbox. Organize Your Instagram Notifications There are a number of ways to organize your inbox, both on mobile and desktop. All of your post notifications are displayed in the inbox. Anything new and unread is bold. Once you open a notification, the message is no longer bold but remains in the inbox list. You can then choose to file notifications under other folders (Done or Follow-Up). Or you can even mark a notification as Unread. To move the notification to the Done folder, click the check mark on both mobile and desktop. To move the notification to the Follow-Up folder, click the clock from the desktop inbox. On mobile, you may need to tap the three-dot or gear icon to find the Move to Follow Up option. Keeping your notifications organized will allow you and your team to better manage response times and engagement for your Instagram content. Advantages of Using the Facebook Inbox for Instagram Comments The primary advantage of using the Facebook Inbox for your Instagram account is efficiency. If you’re regularly on your desktop computer and have Facebook open in a browser, you can quickly see Instagram notifications and reply promptly, without having to hop over to your mobile device and launch the Instagram app. If you have a team of people responsible for your Facebook and Instagram account management, this new inbox will streamline account access. Anyone who is an admin, editor, or moderator on your Facebook page will have access to the Instagram account notifications. They’ll be able to respond on behalf of your business without needing direct access to your Instagram account. Note that you’ll receive Facebook page notifications (if you have push notifications enabled) alerting you to comments on your Instagram account. Again, for teams, this can be helpful to ensure you don’t miss anything. However, if you have both Facebook page and Instagram push notifications enabled, you’ll get notifications for both. #3: Edit Instagram Account Details From Your Facebook PageBeyond managing the comments on your Instagram posts, you can also edit some of your Instagram account details from your Facebook page. Click on the down arrow next to Help in the top-right corner of the page. Then choose Settings. From the left menu list, choose Instagram. On the Instagram screen, you can edit your account name, username, website URL, bio description, and contact information. Simply click the Edit button and make your changes. Click Save when you’re done. Again, some native Instagram features aren’t available when you edit in Facebook. For example, any formatting or spacing you use in your bio won’t necessarily transfer over to the Instagram layout. If you change your website link frequently or update your bio description regularly, having the ability to manage those fields from your Facebook page may help you be more efficient. Conclusion If you have an active Instagram account with constant notifications of comments, the new Facebook Inbox may be a helpful tool to streamline your management process. Of course, Facebook owns Instagram and wants to do what they can to keep you on their platforms, so the integration was inevitable. However, if you use other dashboard tools, they may be just as useful, or even more so, when it comes to managing your Instagram notifications. What do you think? Will you try out the updated Facebook Inbox to manage your Instagram content? Or have you already tried it? Please share your thoughts or lessons learned in the comments below. Social Media via http://ift.tt/eZnnjC June 4, 2017 at 10:05PM
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Editing Tweets: A serious discussion http://ift.tt/2qN6AjM And thus he spoke: Covfefe. It’s an embarrassing Twitter mistake, especially for a sitting President. Donald Trump’s solution, after waking up and discovering he left this bizarre remark in the ether, was, ultimately, to delete the tweet. I bet he wished, like many of us on Twitter, that he could simply edit Tweets. I could point Trump to Facebook. It’s not really his social medium platform of choice, but it does let you endlessly edit posts and doesn’t really sweat the details too much. It notes that a post was edited, but that’s it. In truth, Facebook’s posts are generally not news makers (especially since most of them are private), sorry Mark Zuckerberg, and I’m not sure anyone cares that much about an edited Facebook post. But we obsess about it on Twitter. This may be the one thing I and many other Twitter users, have in common with Donald Trump: the desire to edit tweets. A few hours after Trump’s mis-tweet and hoping to join on the Covfefe fun, I tweeted something smart, possibly even witty. Sadly, I didn’t notice that I messed up Trump's malapropism and briefly created one of my own. Staring at the glaring error, I knew I had two, no, make that three choices: Ignore and keep moving along like there’s nothing to see here, delete, or acknowledge. I chose making light of it and made it clear that I butchered the thing. Before deleting his post, Trump notably chose a similar path and, perhaps for the first time in recorded history, made fun of himself. That was a bad Twitter day for me. I had, I think, two more stupid errors. Sometimes, though, the Tweet error is not really an error at all. It’s a realization that I left something out: maybe I didn’t tag someone, forgot to add an image card or missed a crucial hashtag. I just want to fix it. When I rail at Twitter and its CEO Jack Dorsey for not enabling editable Tweets – and I’ve done this often – other Twitter users rally to my side. This is an obvious and simple change, we cry, why not make it now? Like right now. But it’s not so simple. Is it?
Twitter is a record of historical events. Sure, most Tweets are disposable, but there are also millions that are worthy of preservation. President Trump knows this better than most. It’s illegal for him to delete tweets now, since they are part of his Presidential Records,” though he does so anyway. By not offering us the ability to edit Tweets, Twitter is essentially encouraging us to delete the erroneous, inaccurate and embarrassing ones. What choice did Trump have, really? It’s a wonder he hasn’t deleted more of historical Tweets, many of which contradict his current positions. However, I realize that this is just one of the many considerations Jack Dorsey wrestles with when considering this fundamental change. Let’s imagine that Jack simply flips the switch and enables Tweet editing for all users. What’s to stop Trump from crawling back through his Twitter history and editing all his Tweets into alignment with current policy positions? Twitter, though, would never flip the switch on editable tweets like that. Without some crucial checks and balances already in place, editable Tweets would result in Twitter chaos. I can, though, envision what I think they would look like. Tweets already have a time (and place) stamp. Every edited Tweet would, similarly, have a little edit note on it, probably with the time and date of the edit. In theory, editable tweets could be edited multiple times. At the very least, Twitter would never introduce an edit function without an audit trail. (They wouldn’t, would they?) While this sounds like a rational solution, there’s the question of how many edits and even to what degree. I think that if you allow editing, every single one of the 140 characters and associated images should be editable. If that’s the case, how many versions does Twitter allow? One? One hundred? Unlimited edits could be a heavy, heavy burden for Twitter. Remember how long it took for them to implement search? I’m not sure Twitter could adequately scale such an editing solution for all Tweets. In addition, Jack must decide if editing is a global change for every Tweet ever posted or only a going-forward one: From this day forward, you will be able to change your mind within a single Tweet. That probably won’t sit well with most Twitter users, but it’s the solution I prefer. Then there’s the question of how global do you make this change. Is editing for the Twitter masses or just verified accounts? I might argue that Verified don’t get to edit their Tweets without going through a two-step process: Request editing privileges and let a Twitter Editorial Board decide if an edit (maybe for a silly typo) is warranted. Unverifieds could edit at will.
Sadly, that solution has its flaws, as well. Just because you’re not verified doesn’t mean you’re not tweeting something historic. Sohaib Athar, who tweeted about hearing the helicopters that happened to be on their way to kill Osama Bin Laden was not verified. No one wants him going back now and editing his tweet. I’m not sure the idea of still editable tweets for the first minute or so of their existence is much of a solution, either. Tweets travel at bullet-speed around the globe; a minute into its life-span and it could have been retweeted thousands of times. How would it look if, after that first minute, the next 5,000 retweets are sharing something different? A Tweet is a statement. A concrete thing with import and value. That value does not increase after the first 60 seconds. It’s constant. I hate Twitter mistakes (unless they're happening to someone else) and desperately want editable tweets every time I make one, but my desire to save myself from embarrassment does not override the reality that this is a much more complex issue than it seems. I don’t think we should dismiss it. Instead, it’s time for a serious, open discussion and a timetable for final call on whether Twitter’s 328 million users should be able to edit Tweets. The ball’s in your court, Jack. Social Media via Social Media http://ift.tt/1N1mMj1 June 3, 2017 at 03:16AM
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The real meaning of all those emoji in Twitter handles http://ift.tt/2sAMG7P Emoji have become Twitter's very own digital bumper stickers or laptop decorations. The tiny images next to your handle are yet another way to express yourself online. An image is worth a thousand words, after all, and an emoji certainly adds more intrigue than explicitly stuffing your political preferences into your handle. Emoji are readily available and allowed (and searchable) in Twitter handles, and they are popping up everywhere. Twitter emoji indicate who you are, who you want to be, and how you want others to think of you. But first you have to know what the emoji even mean, so we asked people who use the images in their online identities. Here's some of the most pervasive symbols floating throughout our Twitter feeds. Now you'll be up to speed on what's really going on in your notifications. ? Rose ?Meaning: Democratic Socialist The rose emoji is the best representation for the symbol of the political group, Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. One user, Keith Spencer, who uses the rose in his Twitter handle, knows the long history of the red rose used for labor groups and social democrats. For him the emoji connects him to like-minded people. "I thought it seemed like a good idea to help us find each other," he said in an email. "It has the added benefit of being subtle enough that you can identify yourself as a socialist without, say, a random stranger noticing and then trolling you for it." Thomas Moore, a 20-year-old college student and self-proclaimed activist who has since changed his handle emoji from a rose to a red balloon, said he had put the rose in his handle for its meaning beyond DSA, "The fragility of the rose represents the concern for the welfare of the downtrodden, its petals are symbolic of the ever growing following the movement has." The Democratic Socialists of America have embraced the rose emoji to match the group's logo and identity. ❄️ Snowflake ❄️Meaning: Special, fragile, hypersensitive — but also unique and strong in numbers The snowflake emoji is harder to pin down. "Snowflake" has been used for years as an insult to both the left and right. But through the 2016 election to today it's had something of a resurgence to mostly describe a perceived weaker, emotionally needy and "special" Snowflake Generation. While it's long been used by conservatives as an insult to liberals and progressives (just look at right-wing commentator Tomi Lahren's Snowflake Awards, which "honored" Meryl Streep), it's more recently been repurposed by the very people it's supposed to offend. Liberals have taken the term and flipped it. Author and activist Rebecca Solnit, who coined the term "mansplaining," wrote a "defense of snowflakes," explaining how when snowflakes come together they can accomplish a lot. "Individually snowflakes are exquisite; together they are superpowers," she wrote. Here are some examples of people proudly repping the snowflake on Twitter:
? Lady Liberty ?Meaning: Pro-immigration A segment of the resistance has affiliated themselves with Lady Liberty. One Twitter user who has since changed their handle wrote that the emoji is "code for 'what if immigration is good?'" Other pro-immigration and open borders supporters have used Lady Liberty in their online names in the months since Trump was elected. It's one of several emoji that stand for anti-Trump sentiments and might be the closest thing to a #Resistance emoji.
Glass of milkMeaning: Member of the alt-right and white nationalist For someone like white nationalist Richard Spencer, using a seemingly innocuous icon like a glass of milk works to represent a certain viewpoint until everyone starts to know what it means. Spencer had put a glass of milk in his Twitter handle earlier this year as an ironic symbol of white supremacy. Through some very racist logic, milk came to mean all things white nationalist based on an article about Europeans being mostly lactose tolerant and able to handle drinking milk. Spencer wrote to us through Twitter, explaining what the milk symbol meant to him. "The story, as I understand it, is as follows...," he wrote. "Some hysterical leftist literally argues that drinking milk is 'racist' because Europeans (& Central Asians) are lactose tolerant." It appears Spencer is citing a Mother Jones article that looked into the U.S. dietary guidelines for milk and suggested they may be discriminatory since not everyone, like African-Americans, needs to drink as much milk as recommended. Spencer continued, "Then some Alt-Right kids go publicly guzzle milk on Shia leBoeuf's (sic) live stream HWNDU. Milk becomes 'a thing." He concluded, "Like Pepe, milk is now a symbol of white identity, both ironical and serious."
The glass of milk — lauded by the alt-right as their new accidental symbol, if only briefly — was very reminiscent of how Pepe the Frog became a neo-Nazi hate symbol after it was transformed from innocent cartoon to meme to alt-right identifier. Spencer quickly moved on from the racist milk icon and is already using another provocative emoji, most recently Pepe.
?? Syrian Flag ??Meaning: Alt-right, MAGA supporters, and also Syrians and supporters Many users with the glass of milk soon pivoted to the Syrian flag after Trump ordered an air strike in Syria in April. Spencer switched to the flag emoji, but in the past few weeks quickly changed to the "OK" hand gesture ?, which has been linked to "white power" (though it's not as ubiquitous as Spencer would want — the Anti Defamation League said the organization doesn't recognize the emoji as not a hate symbol), and then back to Pepe the Frog. It's fitting since the cartoon's creator just killed off Pepe after he couldn't bear that it had became a hate symbol. If anything, the Syrian flag's brief moment in white nationalists' handles shows how quickly this subgroup switches out emoji for new symbols. Months after the Syria strike, here's someone who still had the flag in their handle. They posted that they are a supporter of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and retweet Infowars contributor Joseph Paul Watson, who jumped "off the Trump train" after Trump's Syria attack in April.
? Paper Clip ?Meaning: In solidarity with people harassed for how they identify The paper clip is a digital stand-in for a safety pin, which doesn't have an emoji yet. The safety pin is a way to show solidarity to victims of hate crimes and harassment. People wore pins post-Brexit and in the aftermath of the Trump election. This is the digital equivalent to show you are an ally.
? Globe ?Meaning: Globalist Trump's anti-establishment attitudes (we can't forget about #DrainTheSwamp) have given rise to the derogatory term "globalist." It's based off an anti-Semitic term that apparently Steve Bannon has called Jared Kushner. The term comes from the conspiracy theory that Jewish people maintain financial control of the global economy. Trump supporters use "globalist" as a term of derision toward anyone they consider privileged elites, from both sides of the aisle. Vox made a list of who usually gets slapped with the "globalist" label: "Most bankers, executives of multinational corporations, pre-Trump political leaders and donors in both parties, think tank staffers, intellectuals, and members of the media, all generally concentrated in cities, usually get the label too." You'll see it online when people take back the term to ruin the intended effect. So like using a snowflake to minimize the power of the insult, the globe does the same thing for Jewish people and others proud of their political ideology and social status, usually more progressive liberals. So many emojiSemiotician Michael Mills, an administrator at SUNY Geneseo has found the use of emoji to mean something more in our online names. "It's a way of expressing individuality," he said in a phone call. Your handle now represents a larger idea, which Mills said makes people feel included and part of the group. For ambiguous emoji, like a paperclip which has a more nuanced meaning beyond holding paper together, anyone who uses it feels like they are in on the "joke," or "real" meaning. Twitter doesn't seem alarmed by the hidden meanings in people's handles. The social media company said that as long as the name follows community guidelines all is well. If things cross over into "hateful conduct" then they will intervene. But if Twitter doesn't know what an emoji really means, it's hard to prove it's hateful. Sometimes someone just really likes cats, dogs, lightning bolts, and flowers. Or like with the frog image behind the Pepe phenomenon, an emoji becomes something politically charged for no real rhyme or reason. In fact, the frog emoji is cropping up again in recent weeks as something of a Pepe revival. Emoji in handles aren't going away anytime soon. Social Media via Social Media http://ift.tt/1N1mMj1 June 3, 2017 at 12:45AM
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Instagram Messenger Ads, New Snapchat Geofilters, and Coming Facebook Features http://ift.tt/2rCuk9s Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media. On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show with Michael Stelzner, we explore Instagram’s new click to Messenger ads, new Snapchat geofilters with Carlos Gil, new features coming from Facebook, and other breaking social media marketing news of the week! Watch the Social Media Morning Talk ShowIf you’re new to the show, click on the green “Watch replay” button below and sign in or register to watch our latest episode from Friday, June 2, 2017.
Facebook Expands Click to Messenger Ads to Instagram: Facebook added Instagram as “a new placement for click to Messenger ads to complement [its] existing Facebook click to Messenger ads.” This new ad placement has started rolling out to Instagram this week and will be available to all businesses “within the next few months.” (10:14) Instagram for Business Announces Four New Objectives for Stories Ads: Instagram launched immersive, full-screen ads on Instagram Stories in January and made them available to all businesses in March. The company initially focused on “help[ing] businesses better target and reach the people they wanted to connect with.” Businesses can now purchase Instagram Stories ads across four additional objectives, including Video Views, Traffic (formerly known as Website Clicks), Conversions, and Mobile App Install. (23:00) Snapchat Rolls Out New Web Tool for Creating On-Demand Geofilters: Snapchat rolled out the ability for businesses “to create on-demand geofilters from scratch” online. Adweek reports that Snapchat’s new web tool contains preset categories for special events such as birthdays, weddings, and more. Users can access templates and modify their text, colors, and graphics to suit their needs. Pricing for on-demand geofilters currently varies “depending on the length of time [it] will be available, as well as the size of the geofence (minimum of 20,000 square feet).” (27:22)
Snap Inc. Acquires Drone Company, Ctrl Me Robotics: Snap Inc. acquired Ctrl Me Robotics, a small drone manufacturer based in Los Angeles. This new investment gives the company “added muscle in its push into hardware” and suggests future plans to potentially grow this aspect of its business. (36:12) Facebook Adds More Backdrop Options for Status Updates: Facebook built upon its collections of colorful background options for status updates with a new set of stylized backdrop options. This new feature appears to be available on both the mobile and desktop versions of Facebook. (38:45) Facebook Live Video Moves to Stories: Facebook Live seems to have rolled out a new feature that allows users to simultaneously broadcast to Stories and on their timelines. Once a user goes live from their camera, the video will appear in both the user’s story and as a post in their timeline. This new feature was spotted by a Facebook user but has neither been announced nor confirmed by Facebook. (41:50) Facebook Tests Messenger Chatbot Aimed at Page Admins: Adweek reports that Facebook “appears to be testing” a new Messenger chatbot that sends messages to page admins about “enhancing their pages and boosting their results on the social network.” The report specifies that page admins can customize when and how often they receive such messages from the bot. (44:03)
Facebook Allows Groups to Create Online Learning Courses: Facebook is “quietly testing a feature that would let anyone running a group to create their own online classes, which would include units and discussions.” Facebook hasn’t yet officially announced this possible new feature; however, the Next Web reports that courses have already started to appear on some groups categorized as educational. (45:44)
Instagram Adds Support for Web Links and New Image Orientation in Direct: Instagram users in both iOS and Android can now share website links with friends, preview links directly from the thread, and see links for phone numbers and addresses in Direct. Instagram also released landscape and portrait uploads in Direct on iOS, which means users no longer “have to worry” about cropping an image before sending it to their contacts. This new image option is “coming soon” to Android as well. YouTube Introduces New Activity Tab for iOS App: The newest version (12.20) of the YouTube app for iOS features an Activity tab on the bottom navigation bar that allows users to easily view new comments on their videos, keep track of recent activity from their subscriptions, and adjust their individual notification settings. This new feature is available on the official YouTube app for iPhone and iPad and is “coming soon to Android.” Google Rolls Out Data Gif Maker: Google released Data Gif Maker, “a tool to help journalists make [storytelling] visuals which show share of search interest for two competing topics.” This new tool makes it simple and easy for marketers, content creators, and other users to build animated “data visualizations” based on Google search stats. Twitter Experiments With New Promotional Features for Sponsored Live Video: Twitter recently entered into an exclusive partnership with Live Nation to live-stream concerts on its platform. As part of this deal, the company is experimenting with new features to help promote these events. These features include a reminder button that “prompts users to set an alert to watch with a countdown clock” and a new line of copy that indicates who’s sponsoring the concert. Twitter also offers viewers a branded timeline “that groups all of the chatter about the event into one landing page” and provides a brief description of the event.
Twitter Rolls Out Direct Message Requests: With Direct Message requests, Twitter users can now hold and review Direct Messages from people whom they don’t follow or don’t know prior to responding to them. As with Facebook messages, Twitter users must first “accept” a message before they can engage with the sender and move it to their inbox. This new feature is gradually rolling out to all Twitter users and requires an opt-in before it can be accessed.
Disqus Introduces Shadow Banning and Timeouts: Disqus rolled out two new moderation tools “to fight trolls, improve discussion quality, and save your team time.” These include shadow banning, which offers “a discreet method of banning the most troublesome users… and stop them from coming back with new accounts,” and timeouts, temporary bans for specified time periods. Both features are available as part of the Disqus Pro plan. Twitter Announces First Live Video Partnership With BBC: Twitter and the BBC announced a new live-streaming partnership in which Twitter will broadcast five election specials from the UK on its platform. According to the BBC, this “trial interactive experience” is the first time the media organization has partnered with Twitter in this way and “will offer a real-time curated timeline of tweets allowing followers to see immediate commentary from BBC experts and BBC Reality Check.” Facebook Offers Basic Content and News Feed Guidelines for Publishers: In light of Facebook’s recent efforts to limit misinformation, sensationalism, and clickbait, the company shared “some basic guideposts” to help publishers reach their audience on Facebook and maintain the integrity of the news feed. Within these guidelines, Facebook clearly specifies what it means to create meaningful and informative stories that audiences will find interesting; explores how to post accurate, authentic content; and emphasizes its Community Standards. Twitter Tests a New Look for Buttons and Thumbnail Images: TechCrunch reports that “Twitter is testing a new interface for its mobile applications on iOS and Android, which involves rounded profile images, buttons, and other features.”
Google Introduces Google Attribution for Ads and Analytics: Google announced Google Attribution, a new product to answer the question that has challenged marketers for ages: “Is my marketing working?” With Google Attribution, marketers will be able to “understand how all of [their] marketing efforts work together and deliver the insights [they] need to make them work better.” Facebook Instant Articles SDK Now Supports Other Major Publishing Platforms: Facebook added an extension to its open source Software Development Kit (SDK) used to build Instant Articles that will allow publishers to also build content publishable as Google AMP, and soon, Apple News articles. This update removes “a resource-heavy step in publishing on multiple platforms” and makes it simpler for publishers to push content to other content management systems or third-party publishing tools. Want to catch our next show live? Click here to subscribe or add our show to your calendar. Social Media via http://ift.tt/eZnnjC June 2, 2017 at 10:11PM
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How to be cool on Instagram and Snapchat, according to teens http://ift.tt/2rsPbdl Sure, you might think your Instagram of your smashed avocado toast and soy latte is totally hip. But in the world of teens, you're basically a massive loser. Sorry. Being cool is an art form and few of us know how to truly master it. But teens today seem to inherently know what is and isn't cool, especially when it comes to posting on Instagram and Snapchat. Teens abide by some pretty strict rules when it comes to social media, lest they be deemed uncool, or — heaven forfend — a loser. Here's the definitive rulebook on how to be cool, according to teenagers. Prepare yourself for some extreme blushing because, yes, you've definitely done all these things. Literally never Instagram your Snapchat filtersEllen McArthur, 19, from Devon, UK, says a "really loserish" thing to do is Instagramming photos with a Snapchat filter. "ESPECIALLY when you try and hide the flower crown filter at the top. WE CAN STILL TELL THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU NATURALLY LOOK LIKE," says McArthur. OMG please, never singAccording to New York-based Joey Ann, 19, this rule — which applies to Instagram and Snapchat Stories — is "the most important." And, if you deign to break it, you "probably have no friends." Ouch. "If someone has a super, super long story of them just singing in their car and being obnoxiously loud wherever they go I'll probably never look at their story or Snaps again," says Joey Ann. "They will get made fun of trust me."
Check your Instagram ratioSimran R., from Mumbai, India, says your ratio of following to followers on Instagram is a key factor. "Never have more following than followers," says 16-year-old Simran. "Your ratio should be 2:1 at worst. If you have 1,000 followers, you cannot follow more than 500 people." Don't just lie in bed with a Snapchat filterLily Hamblin, 19 from New Hampshire, U.S., says people who post things they are doing like "hiking and "travelling" are cool. But, the "people who post videos of them laying in bed with the puppy dog filter" are absolutely not cool. "That is so annoying and I think weird," says Hamblin. Only use hashtags ironically"Don't say throwback Thursday," says Dylan Smith, 16, from Maryland, U.S.. "People only use hashtags ironically now." Exercise restraint on your night outThis particular Snapchat habit seems to be particularly egregious in the eyes of teens. Rachel Luo, 18, from Texas, U.S., takes exception to people who post a ton of Snap Stories from the same concert. "There's only so many you can post before people get annoyed. (It's like five)," says Luo. "A bunch of people I know will edit their stories as the day goes on so there's not too many snaps." Duration of individual Snaps is also crucial. Anything beyond 50 seconds is "beyond annoying," says Dylan Smith. Space out your selfiesEllen McArthur says having a page that's "literally only selfies basically shows that you have no friends." Joey Ann agrees, adding that posting a selfie everyday on Instagram "gets old really quick." "People should space out their pics with events and cool things they like besides their face, show us who they are in their own way. Whether it be fashion, food, cars, etc," says Joey Ann. Image: vicky leta / mashable Ask yourself: Is this 'Insta-worthy'?Stephen Hladik, 19, from New Jersey, says that on Instagram there's more pressure to post stuff that's interesting. "There's lots people of asking friends 'is this Insta worthy?' and endless retaking of photos until the best one is found," says Joey Ann. Keep your mom out of itConnie Hunter, 16, from Sussex, UK, says you should only post photos of your mom "if it's her birthday or if she dies." Brutal. Strictly no double-postingNever, ever post multiple photos to Instagram in one day, says Hayley Smith, 19. "Definitely do not post two Instagrams a day or even two days in a row unless you're doing something cool," says Hayley. Keep emoji to a minimumRachel Luo says that some teens live by the "no more than 3 emoji rule." And, while we're at it, she says using loads of hashtags is "just tacky." Don't send your Snapchat Story to peopleNever, ever send your Snapchat Story to an individual person. Chances are they'll view your Story at some point, so why bother doubling up? "If you send me a picture on Snapchat and you post it on your story it makes me feel really stupid because I thought that person was only talking to me," says Joey Ann. Don't just post food picsYou might think that your #foodstagram is worthy of the 'gram. But, teens really couldn't care less. "Don't always post food pics; if we wanted to look at food we'd follow a food page," says Simran R. Connie Hunter abides by a strictly "no food photos" Instagram rule. Think about the quality"You would never post a picture on Instagram that was not good quality, or had bad lighting," says 18-year-old Maria del Pilar Ferreira Loray, from Manchester, UK. Don't send Snaps of your absTeens have absolutely no time for photos of abs. "Snapchat has a lot of thirsty guys that send you random pics of their abs," says Joey Ann. "#1 it's annoying #2 it gets old REAALLY fast #3 usually they end up blocked." Be niceLily Hamblin says anything "mean or targeted at someone in a negative way" is absolutely not cool. "People who Snap embarrassing things of other people or use Snapchat or Instagram as a platform for their own personal drama with someone is usually viewed as annoying and immature," adds Hamblin. Social Media via Social Media http://ift.tt/1N1mMj1 June 2, 2017 at 04:09AM
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How to Become a Highly-Rated User on Quora http://ift.tt/2rjFcbS I’m a curious person by nature. I find myself constantly doing research on nearly every topic under the sun. If I’m chilling at a restaurant with friends and someone wonders about a current event or mentions a fact, I’m Googling it on my phone. (Yeah, I’m that guy.) A lot of my Google searches begin with “what is,” “why is,” and “how to”… And there’s a trend I’ve noticed when I Google a lot of these questions. A sizable percentage of the results I get are from Quora. Here’s a good example: Here it is, chillin’ at a solid number three spot for this particular keyword phrase. And this is by no means a fluke. Quora gets plenty of love from Google. Interest in this large-scale Q&A site is definitely on the rise. Just look at how interest has grown over time, according to Google Trends: I’d say that’s significant. With 190 million users as of April 2017 and 400,000 topics, there’s a solid user base and one that’s continually growing. More importantly, Quora is an excellent resource to build trust and authority while expanding your brand. I use it to bring in plenty of quality referral traffic and reel in countless leads. I’ve seen Quora’s potency firsthand and highly recommend leveraging its power. But you can’t just haphazardly throw up some answers and expect amazing results. Like in most areas of marketing, you need to follow a process. In this post, I’d like to share a process that’s worked for me and, I know, can work for you too. To be upfront, it’s going to take some time to get the ball rolling. But following this process can help you become one of the highest-rated users on Quora. Pimp your profileYour first order of business is to take some time setting up your profile so that it drips with awesomeness. Here’s a quick look at mine: You’ll want to cover your “Credentials and Highlights,” beef up your “Knows About” section and provide a thorough explanation of your bio. And don’t forget to include a professional headshot for your profile image. If you need a little help getting set up, check out this post I wrote on NeilPatel.com. The bottom line is, the more information you provide on your profile, the better. More specifically, you’ll want to select topics you’re highly knowledgeable about. This will be important later on because you want to provide answers only on topics and questions that you understand in and out. It’s integral for being seen as a trustworthy figure and someone who knows their stuff. Here are some of the topics I chose: Offer insanely helpful answersTypically, on different platforms, you can employ hacks to build your audience quickly, boost your reputation, etc. But on Quora, you don’t have any shortcuts. You create buzz by providing helpful answers and exceeding expectations. I know that “offer insanely helpful answers” is a little vague, so let me give you an example. Here’s an actual question on Quora: And here are a couple of answers to this question: These are both pretty solid. They definitely answer the question and provide some insight. But I wouldn’t say either answer is in-depth. Now, here’s my answer: And that’s only part of it. There’s quite a bit more information if you continue to scroll down. Notice that it’s significantly more in-depth and structured more like a blog post than a basic answer. I included relevant images, headers, and plenty of white space to make it both digestible and scannable. This approach is a lot like the skyscraper technique: find great content and make it even better. As I mentioned in another article, the way to do this is to: Is it time-consuming and labor-intensive? Yes. But does it raise my credibility and authority? You betcha. I’m not saying you necessarily need to go to this degree of length with your answers. Some might say it’s a little excessive. But you want to ensure you’re answering a question in its entirety and leaving no stone unturned. A person should walk away feeling satisfied with a new insight on the topic. If you’re going to provide only half-hearted answers with generic information people can find anywhere, you’re wasting your time on Quora. That’s just how it goes. The only way to become a high-rated user is to be super helpful. Finding questions to answerNow that you know the level of depth to shoot for, let’s discuss how to find good questions to answer. Since you’ll be putting a considerable amount of time and energy into it, you want to answer questions that will give you maximum visibility. One way to find questions is to click on “Answer” from your dashboard. Quora will provide you with the top questions curated for you, based on your knowledge and specific areas of expertise. Many times, you’ll be able to find several questions right in your wheelhouse. Another way to go about it is to search for a particular topic directly. For example, I might search for “content marketing.” Type it in the search box, and choose the particular topic that best matches what you’re looking for. Quora will then provide you with a list of questions to choose from. It’s all pretty straightforward. Keep in mind the questions toward the top tend to have the most visibility, which is what you want. Key metricsYou may be wondering which specific metrics translate into authority/credibility. It’s simple. There are three main metrics:
You’ll see these at the end of your comments, and they look like this: Views and comments are pretty self-explanatory, but you may be wondering what exactly an upvote is. It’s a way for others to approve your comment and say it offers genuine value and contributes to the discussion. Here’s an actual Quora user explaining what an upvote is: The more views and upvotes you get, the better. As for downvotes, these basically have the opposite effect. Here’s a great explanation: These obviously aren’t good and hurt your credibility. As for comments, these can go either way. Positive comments help you, and negative comments hurt you. But from my experience, negative comments are pretty uncommon. As long as you’re offering real value, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about negative comments. Finally, there’s your following. Once again, the bigger, the better. At the moment, I’ve got 7.3k followers, which isn’t too shabby. But there are people with much bigger followings: As you begin to build a bigger presence on Quora, be sure to pay attention to these key metrics because they’ll give you a pretty good idea of how you’re rated and how people are responding to you. And there’s one last thing I need to mention. As you answer more and more questions, people will be able to get a sense of the topics you’re most knowledgeable about. Quora will automatically list what you know most about by the number of answers you’ve given on a particular topic. Here’s what I’m talking about: If there’s a certain topic you want to be closely associated with, make it a point to focus your attention and answer questions on that topic. An overview of the processNow, let’s recap the steps:
Also keep in mind that being successful on Quora is often a numbers game. In other words, you can’t expect to become a top user if you answer only a handful of questions. You really want to shoot for a high volume and get in the habit of frequently answering questions. This is crucial for eventually gaining a strong reputation and getting users to take you seriously. ConclusionQuora is a potential goldmine. It’s one of the best sites for building trust and authority and ultimately being viewed as an expert in your industry. What I really love about it is the overall demographic of Quora users. From my experience, the majority of people are intelligent and have a genuine desire to learn and help others. When compared to many other places, it’s a relatively troll-free zone—people aren’t trying to mindlessly sabotage one another. But I will admit it does require a fair amount of effort to gain momentum. And there’s a considerable time commitment involved. But it’s well worth it when you consider the long-term brand equity boost you can get. By following the process I mentioned, you can really strengthen your brand and drive a significant volume of referral traffic to your site. How often do you use Quora for finding answers to questions? Social Media via Quick Sprout http://ift.tt/UU7LJr June 2, 2017 at 03:00AM Influencer Marketing: How to Scale Your Social Media Exposure http://ift.tt/2qNl1PO Wondering how to increase your business's reach on social media? Have you considered partnering with an influencer? To explore how to develop business relationships with influencers, I interview Neal Schaffer. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Neal Schaffer, author of three social media books including Maximize Your Social. He teaches social media strategy at Rutgers University and is the founder of PDCA Social, an agency that specializes in helping Japanese businesses leverage American social media platforms. Neal explores the difference between paid and earned influencers. You'll discover how to use influencer marketing to scale your social media results. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen Now Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show: Influencer Marketing Why Influencer Marketing? Social media is a noisy place and the days of 100% organic success are over. Brands, companies, and practitioners need to use paid social to get noticed. In this environment, Neal believes other people can accelerate your social media marketing efforts. Put simply, you need to consider other users on social media who might be able to help spread the word about your brand and amplify your message. Neal identifies three different types of "others": your employees or partners (employee advocacy), your fans (brand advocacy), and influencers (also known as influencer marketing). Each type is powerful in its own way, and in 2017, influencer marketing is the most mainstream. It can help you cut through the noise in a different way than paid social. Plus, influencer marketing is ideally more authentic and leads to more engagement. I ask Neal to explain what influencer marketing is, for people who are new to the concept. Neal says influencer marketing involves partnering with people who have influence over others. In the old days, newspaper writers and television broadcasters had tremendous influence. Now, in certain online or social media communities, people on YouTube or Instagram are famous and influential in a way that's similar to big-name media celebrities. Some social media influencers focus on one network, such as Instagram or YouTube, whereas others have appeal across several platforms. With influencer marketing, you work with an influencer who talks about your brand, and those mentions of your product or service have a positive effect on your business. People become influencers on social media because they're creating their own valuable content. They have a regular audience that cares about the influencer's tips, recommendations, or other content. However, unlike a true celebrity, a person doesn't need a million followers or subscribers to be an influencer. They need to have relevance only in their community. For example, a YouTuber may have never heard of a podcasting influencer. That's okay. The podcaster needs to have influence only within their specific podcasting community. Listen to the show to hear more about how social influencers compare to big-name celebrities. How to Discover and Evaluate Potential Influencers To begin, use listening tools and do keyword searches to learn who in your industry is talking about topics or products relevant to your business. For instance, a consumer brand selling to moms needs to know which mommy bloggers are talking about products similar to theirs, or which Instagrammers are taking photos and using hashtags related to their products. A B2B company needs to seek out tech bloggers who carry a lot of weight. Remember, influence isn't only about the number of followers. Find people who are producing content that seems to have an effect. Social Media via Social Media Marketing Podcast helps your business thrive with social media http://ift.tt/eZnnjC June 2, 2017 at 12:13AM
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Influencer Marketing: How to Scale Your Social Media Exposure http://ift.tt/2qNl1PO Wondering how to increase your business’s reach on social media? Have you considered partnering with an influencer? To explore how to develop business relationships with influencers, I interview Neal Schaffer. More About This ShowThe Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing. In this episode, I interview Neal Schaffer, author of three social media books including Maximize Your Social. He teaches social media strategy at Rutgers University and is the founder of PDCA Social, an agency that specializes in helping Japanese businesses leverage American social media platforms. Neal explores the difference between paid and earned influencers. You’ll discover how to use influencer marketing to scale your social media results. Share your feedback, read the show notes, and get the links mentioned in this episode below. Listen NowListen now: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:37 — 39.4MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show: Influencer MarketingWhy Influencer Marketing? Social media is a noisy place and the days of 100% organic success are over. Brands, companies, and practitioners need to use paid social to get noticed. In this environment, Neal believes other people can accelerate your social media marketing efforts. Put simply, you need to consider other users on social media who might be able to help spread the word about your brand and amplify your message. Neal identifies three different types of “others”: your employees or partners (employee advocacy), your fans (brand advocacy), and influencers (also known as influencer marketing). Each type is powerful in its own way, and in 2017, influencer marketing is the most mainstream. It can help you cut through the noise in a different way than paid social. Plus, influencer marketing is ideally more authentic and leads to more engagement. I ask Neal to explain what influencer marketing is, for people who are new to the concept. Neal says influencer marketing involves partnering with people who have influence over others. In the old days, newspaper writers and television broadcasters had tremendous influence. Now, in certain online or social media communities, people on YouTube or Instagram are famous and influential in a way that’s similar to big-name media celebrities. Some social media influencers focus on one network, such as Instagram or YouTube, whereas others have appeal across several platforms. With influencer marketing, you work with an influencer who talks about your brand, and those mentions of your product or service have a positive effect on your business. People become influencers on social media because they’re creating their own valuable content. They have a regular audience that cares about the influencer’s tips, recommendations, or other content. However, unlike a true celebrity, a person doesn’t need a million followers or subscribers to be an influencer. They need to have relevance only in their community. For example, a YouTuber may have never heard of a podcasting influencer. That’s okay. The podcaster needs to have influence only within their specific podcasting community. Listen to the show to hear more about how social influencers compare to big-name celebrities. How to Discover and Evaluate Potential Influencers To begin, use listening tools and do keyword searches to learn who in your industry is talking about topics or products relevant to your business. For instance, a consumer brand selling to moms needs to know which mommy bloggers are talking about products similar to theirs, or which Instagrammers are taking photos and using hashtags related to their products. A B2B company needs to seek out tech bloggers who carry a lot of weight. Remember, influence isn’t only about the number of followers. Find people who are producing content that seems to have an effect. You can analyze influence in a lot of ways but as you begin, check whether someone’s content gets a lot of shares on social media. Also, consider whether someone’s content is a worthwhile resource for your own followers. When you find an influencer who might be a good partner, begin engaging with that influencer organically. Start by introducing yourself and sharing their posts. Be sure to tag them so they know you find value in their content. Follow them and comment on their posts. Then, when you do reach out to discuss working together, you’ve established your interest in their content. For example, Neal does influencer campaigns on behalf of clients and people reach out to him as an influencer. He uses Sprout Social to see the history of his conversations. When someone asks him to be part of a post or infographic, he’ll check whether they follow him or have shared his content before he responds to the request. Take the extra step to engage and develop relationships organically. It will really help in your efforts with influencers in the long run. A lot of people attend industry events and conferences to try to discover the movers and shakers, meet them, and develop relationships that are mutually beneficial. Finding influencers follows a similar framework. You’re just doing it online. Listen to the show to hear my process for seeking out influencers. Partnering With Paid Versus Earned Influencers When people think about influencer marketing, they immediately think, “Oh, I don’t have the budget to pay someone $10,000 to post a photo.” While it’s true that celebrities are paid a lot for endorsements, micro-influencers don’t command such high fees. For example, you can pay $300 a tweet or $500 for an Instagram post; however, those relationships will be purely transactional. You might be one brand among 30 that the influencer works with, which runs the risk of turning off the influencer’s audience. Paid influencers will treat your business as they would any of their many customers. I ask Neal how the FTC’s Endorsement Guides and its enforcement of transparency about paid sponsorships have affected influencer marketing.
Neal says the platforms where influencers share content are encouraging influencers to disclose sponsorships, too. Also, if someone has a large or loyal following, Neal doesn’t think disclosing a sponsorship or ad necessarily detracts from the endorsement. People still see the ad and the question is whether they act on it. However, Neal suggests anyone who’s looking to pay someone $1,000 for a tweet should also consider the potential benefits of doing a promoted tweet campaign for $1,000 and then compare. View paid influence the same way you view paid media. On the other hand, you can build relationships with influencers organically. The deeper a connection you have with someone, the easier it will be to ask them for their help and see how you can help them. Those relationships are the ones with the most long-term value. Listen to the show to hear Neal emphasize the basics that help you organically build relationships with influencers. Examples of Earned Influencers Roundup blog posts are a popular way to engage with influencers and get some sort of ROI from an earned engagement. To create a roundup blog post, find people who have a lot of followers in your industry and ask them to contribute a quote to a post. Then, if the influencers share the post with their community, you’re “leveraging the other.” For example, even if only half of the 20 people you invite actually tweet the post to their 50,000 followers, your post can reach a much larger audience than your own 2,000 Twitter followers. As you curate content, you can ask influencers to come out to an event or join a Twitter chat. Bring them into your world. Instead of asking someone to post or tweet about your brand, give them natural opportunities to do so. When relationship development is done right, it’s win-win. But it can seem forced. For instance, a custom dress shirt company reached out to Neal because he wears a suit in his profile pictures. They wrote, “We know you look good on social media. We want to offer you a free custom-tailored shirt.” The offer came out of nowhere and because there was never any follow-up, Neal never got that custom shirt. To work well with influencers, set clear expectations and then stick to them. Don’t ask influencers for one thing and add them to email lists and expect them to participate on a weekly basis when that wasn’t part of the expectation. Neal also stresses that to form a successful relationship with an influencer, you need to understand the relationship from the influencer’s point of view and communicate the value of your brand and the relationship to the influencer. Remember that influencers are normally content creators, and content creators are busy. They often have their own products and initiatives, and people and companies ping influencers frequently. For example, when a tool company offers Neal a one-month free trial if he’ll post about them, that approach doesn’t work because Neal needs a tool he can use forever. If he can use the tool only for 30 days, he won’t waste his time writing about it. Moreover, when a company nickel-and-dimes an influencer, it implies that the influencer isn’t valuable to the company. In a better scenario, a tool company offers Neal a lifetime membership. They don’t ask him to blog about the tool or the company, but if Neal loves the product, they know he’ll do it anyway. The smart brands know an influencer’s long-term value. You don’t need to pay a lot of money. You can offer your assets (products, services, or customer experiences) to the influencers. As influencers with huge followings become more expensive, you can build relationships with micro-influencers, who have fewer followers than influencers (maybe 10,000 to 50,000 instead of 500,000), but still have pull in a niche market or community. You can build a deeper relationship with micro-influencers because fewer brands are vying for their attention. Plus, if you work with a few micro-influencers, you could get a stronger effort than you would by working with one big celebrity. You may also have an opportunity to build a mutually beneficial relationship by helping the influencer grow while they help you. Listen to the show to learn how someone went out of their way to earn my influence. How to Reach Out to Influencers Before you contact influencers, find who they are. Do a lot of Google, Twitter, and Instagram searches and create a list of the people you want to contact. Next, prioritize. You can’t manage relationships with 1,000 different influencers. For the purpose of a campaign, aim for 5 to 20 people. Start with the people who might require a paid approach because they still may be interested. You never know when your product is going to tickle someone’s fancy. For example, Neal worked with a company whose product reduced certain illnesses in babies between the ages of six months and three years. He found that influencers who were more expensive might reduce their price because they really wanted to work with that brand. After you contact 10 to 30 people, look at how you approached them and see who responded. You’ll get an idea for market price and expectations, and you can adapt based on that information. Through this, you’ll find your tribe of influencers. Look for situations where you both have a vision for the relationship and move forward with the ones where your budget and their expectations match. There’s nothing wrong with doing 100% organic or 100% paid. However, if you’re doing 100% paid, you don’t have to offer a few thousand dollars to each blogger. You could send free product or a nominal amount. Show that you value the time they take to write a blog post or send a tweet, and offer a token of your appreciation. I ask Neal how to broach the subject of an endorsement with an influencer. Neal reiterates that you should engage with potential influencers on social media before the initial contact. That might spark a conversation that can help you. When you do reach out, send an email or message that lets the influencer know you’ve been following each other on social media. Also, reference one of their articles that you loved and shared with your community and tell them that it resonated with your fans. Then, mention you’re trying to get the word out about your product. Ask if they work with companies, and if so, how. You can also let an influencer know you’d love to send them one of your products to try and get their feedback. Or offer them something to use as a giveaway on their blog. Determine what you can give that would be valuable to them. Once again, don’t specifically ask for a blog post or anything else. Just know that if they really like your product, they’ll probably talk about it naturally anyway. You can also look at businesses an influencer has worked with in the past to develop an idea of the influencer’s expectations. Listen to the show to discover what Neal is doing as a result of working with influencers. Discovery of the WeekApple just released Clips, an iOS app for creating and editing square video, which tends to perform best on social media. Clips is ideal for creating short videos that you share in your social news feeds or as stories on Facebook or Instagram. Clips is like a little iMovie editor stripped down for social media videos. You can record and edit video and add filters, posters, speech bubbles, and more. The app even lets you create a title slide or add content from your camera roll. To add music, choose from the included audio clips or select one of your own. The Live Titles feature is an easy way to add closed captioning. This is helpful because, on social platforms, video is typically muted until the captions draw viewers in. After you turn on Live Titles, the app translates your voice to text and the words pop up on the bottom of the screen. The text-to-speech functionality is pretty accurate, but you can edit the text if needed. The Clips app is free and available only to iOS users. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram allow you to upload video in a square format, and Clips is a cool way to create these videos with little effort. The app combines the camera and effects into one easy tool. Listen to the show to learn more and let us know how Clips works for you. Listen to the show! Listen now: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:37 — 39.4MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS Key takeaways mentioned in this episode:What do you think? What are your thoughts on influencer marketing? Please leave your comments below. Social Media via http://ift.tt/eZnnjC June 1, 2017 at 10:06PM |
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