Happy holidays one and all!
It’s comforting to get a reminder that, despite everything 2020 has thrown at us, the world just keeps on turning – and this month’s smattering of news is proof of that. Things are undeniably weird though: in a sign of just how odd 2020 has been, warring digital giants are taking to major U.S. newspapers to air their hostilities. Read on!
Social Media · 3 mins
LinkedIn Product Pages coming soon!
LinkedIn has announced a new product pages tab within its existing Company Pages. The new feature will allow companies to display their products and key features, show customer testimonials, aggregate user reviews and generate leads through custom calls to action. Rich media such as videos will also feature.
Social Media / PR · 5 mins
Digital giants resort to old school PR in new spat
We love PR so we’re delighted to see that when it’s backs-to-the-wall time, even the digital giants can’t think of a more effective way of taking down the competition than by getting a bit Old School.
Facebook has used full-page ads in The Washington Post and New York Times to criticise Apple’s decision to grant users the option to stop apps tracking their activity. With the line that Apple’s move will hurt small businesses who rely on ad networks to generate sales, Facebook is attempting to position itself as a friend of the small business. Others are calling Facebook out for breathtaking hypocrisy!
Social Media · 5 mins
New Twitter verification policies go live in a month
After taking feedback from 22,000 users, Twitter’s proposed new Twitter verification policies will become reality on 20th January 2021. They will include labels for automated (bot) accounts and memorial accounts (those whose users are deceased). The new moves should make it clearer just how many accounts are truly “active” i.e. used by an individual person in real time. We reckon the number of accounts revealed to be automated, fake or otherwise inactive will be shockingly high.
Social Media · 4 mins
Facebook: Monopoly. No, not a board game, but perhaps the title of the next Facebook Movie?
Facebook is so embattled that we confidently predict future movies about its many trials and tribulations.
Across the pond, 48 attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission have filed antitrust lawsuits against the site and are attempting to break up its monopoly by forcing it to sell Instagram And WhatsApp. They maintain Facebook has used illegal monopoly power (based on its vast material and data wealth), and an “unlawful scheme” to stifle competition, degrade personal privacy, and crush rivals. It’s an anticompetitive conduct battle for the ages. Eek.
ALSO IN THE NEWS…
Facebook will follow Google in moving millions of UK users out of the jurisdiction of EU privacy laws under a Brexit-related change in its privacy laws; Tik Tok has launched an investigation and banned some search terms after the Guardian found harmful pro-anorexia content was still easily searchable on the platform, and check out this fabulous piece on the ethics of design – something that rather flies under the radar, but is a key part of web design.
What’s cooking?
Thank you 🥂
We’d like to close out this newsletter with a heartfelt thank you to our customers. We all know what a tough year 2020 has been, so we were delighted to retain all our clients in one form or another – even those whose business has been hit especially hard by the pandemic. Thanks for sticking with us. We wish you a peaceful holiday and a successful and – hopefully – brighter 2021.
