June Social News

Your monthly roundup

Shade, regret, frauds, and IGTV. June’s been a busy month.

Apple Threw Some Serious Shade at Facebook

Apple debuted the new version of Safari — included in the forthcoming macOS Mojave — at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The update promises to block social media widgets that track people browsing the open web. As Apple senior vice president Craig Federighi discussed this new feature onstage, the image projected behind him depicted a Facebook comment thread. What followed was a series of tweets from Facebook’s CSO Alex Stamos claiming that they were being unfairly singled out. Sure Jan.

Snapchat Rolls Out Option to ‘Unsend’ Messages

Snapchat’s new Clear Chats feature lets you lets you unsend that message you immediately regret. (Can I get an AMEN?) The process is pretty straightforward — as explained by TechCrunch:

“Hold down on a text, image, video, memory, sticker, or audio note in a one-on-one or group chat Snapchat message thread and you’ll see a Delete button. Tap it, and Snapchat will try to retract the message, though it admits it won’t always work if the recipient lacks an internet connection or updated version of the app. The recipient will also be notified — something Facebook didn’t do in the case of Zuckerberg’s messages.”

Instagram’s Wannabe-Stars Are Driving Luxury Hotels Crazy

Luxury hotels are seeing a tremendous onslaught of so-called “influencers” sliding into their DMs with requests for all-expense-paid vacations in exchange for some social media posts. Kate Jones, marketing and communications manager at the Dusit Thani, a five-star resort in the Maldives, said they “… have to filter out influencers who have basically bought bots. There’s a lot of those these days.” Don’t we know it—check out this piece on the dangers of fake followers by our VERB’s very own Kate Bray.

Are You Ready to Tune in to IGTV?

Instagram launched their answer to the most popular video-sharing platform on June 21 at a splashy event in San Francisco. The new longform video app, called IGTV, is already available to download. For more, check out VERB’s comprehensive guide.

Janelle is a Project Manager at VERB Interactive—a leader in digital marketing, specializing in solutions for the travel and hospitality industry. Find out more at www.verbinteractive.com.