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Twitter’s Set to Free-Up Unused Twitter Handles, Add Up-Front View Counts to Tweets

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Elon Musk Launches Hostile Takeover Bid for Twitter

It’s Friday, so it’s time to check in on what’s happening at Elon’s ‘Twitter 2.0’ this week.

Musk has slowed his declarations of late, with Twitter’s upcoming $8 verification plan still in development, and other updates being worked through by Twitter’s reduced engineering team.

But there have been a few, smaller updates announced that Twitter now has in the works, which could be of interest.

First off, Musk says that Twitter will soon free up dormant accounts, making many @handles available once again:

Musk flagged this a few weeks back, noting that Twitter just needed to work out how to deal with accounts of deceased users that should possibly be memorialized in some way. It’s unclear if that’s still part of the plan, but it seems like a whole lot of Twitter handles are about to be re-released back to users.

So if there’s a handle that you’ve had your eye on, and it’s been inactive forever, it may be worth paying attention, and seeing if you can snap it up once the shift is officially announced.

On another front, Musk has reiterated that Twitter will soon show view counts on tweets, as a means to highlight engagement levels in the app.

Elon says that people’s tweets are actually reaching a lot more people than they probably think. The view here is that if Twitter can highlight the true levels of tweet exposure, that will show users that there’s more activity than their like and retweet counts would suggest, which could get people tweeting more often, because they’ll know that they’re getting some attention, even if people don’t feel compelled to interact.

But I don’t know.

Twitter’s actually experimented with this a few times in the past, notably in 2014, 2017, and in September this year, when it launched a live test of the view count display with some users.

As you can see in this example, the update will display actual tweet reach metrics, which you can already view in the separate tweet analytics tab, up front, alongside likes and retweet counts.

So, instead of thinking that people are seeing your tweets and not engaging with them because they’re just not interested, you’d actually know this for sure. Which is probably not the intended aim of this display, but it’s hard to see how knowing that 2k people saw your tweet, and none of them engaged, might act as a motivator for you to keep sharing your thoughts in the app.

Which is likely why Twitter’s never gone with this in the past – but under Elon Musk, who’s clearly a very big fan of attention, they’re trying it again, because for Elon, knowing that a million people are being shown his comments is a big deal.

It might not be for everyone else – but then again, maybe by knowing that you are actually reaching a lot more people than the like and retweet figures suggest, that will help you revise and refine your tweet approach, in order to improve engagement and response.

App researcher Jane Manchun Wong has shared two images of what the new view counts might look like (left, in the app and right, on the web), based on current testing:

Twitter view counts

On another front, Elon has also spent considerable time tweeting about the ‘Twitter Files’ expose that he’s overseeing, in which he’s working with selected journalists to uncover perceived political bias and suppression under previous management at the app.

Which I’m not going into. The concerns highlighted in these reports are, at the least, being sensationalized via selective reporting, while the lack of access to the full data chain makes it impossible to clarify exactly what’s happened in each case, and how Twitter staff came to their decisions.

It’s seemingly another way to spark more attention, and get more people using Twitter – which, evidently, is working for Musk, who keeps saying that Twitter usage it at all-time highs. As such, they’ll likely keep pumping out attention-grabbing headlines and stories as a PR exercise.

But I will say that the Twitter Files reports haven’t revealed anything new, or necessarily nefarious, as yet.  

Though they could result in more insight about restrictions impacting your tweets:

That could be handy, and would provide more transparency moving forward, which could also help to ensure that users better understand any such restrictions, and help keep the conversation more civil and welcoming.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but really, the next big step is the re-launch of Twitter’s $8 verification plan, which will either see massive take-up and be a savior for the app, or it won’t.

We’ll likely find out soon.

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7 tips for creating great digital presence

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7 tips for creating great digital presence

DEAR READERS: Companies of all kinds are finding it imperative to build a digital strategy to compete in a world where almost everyone is shopping and doing business online. How can small companies, including startups and those with just a few employees, get the kind of following on their websites and social media platforms that they’ll need to succeed?






There are several steps to take to build your business online.




It is a problem many companies are trying to get their arms around, according to everyone I reached out to. Here are a few tips to get started on the road to social media success:

Develop clearly defined goals. “Determine your objectives, whether they are enhancing brand awareness, generating leads or driving sales growth, as they will serve as guiding principles for developing your strategy,” suggests Dmitriy Shelepin CEO and head of SEO at Miromind.

Identify your ideal followers. That means going beyond demographics like gender and age, according to brand consultant Faith James, CEO of The Personal Branding Consultancy. “It’s important to go deeper into their psychographics — how they think, what motivates them, what their core desires are,” James says. “By focusing on the psychographics, you focus on the emotional connectors that build a stronger connection which goes beyond just the transactional ‘buy my stuff.’ ”

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Choose and prioritize platforms. Shelepin says it is crucial to choose platforms “that resonate with your desired audience and align with your business objectives,” and suggests focusing on one or two of those platforms “to deliver quality over quantity.”

Provide value. James says value can come in various forms, but stresses that it boils down to “helping your audience get a small win in the areas that are meaningful to them.

“If a hair salon is looking to grow their following, they might offer tips on their website and social media platforms such as ‘How to Have Your Hair Color Last Longer,’ ‘3 Tips on How to Beat the Humidity Frizz,’ or ‘How to Avoid Chlorine Damage While Swimming at the Pool,’ ” James says.

Value also can come by educating and informing your audience with things like educational blog posts that establish industry expertise, Shelepin adds.

Invite engagement. This is an essential step, James stresses. “In all instances, the business would invite the audience to share their own hair drama stories, share their own tricks they are using to make their hair color last longer, and invite the audience to submit their own questions about hair care,” James explains.

Build relationships. “Use social media to connect with customers, respond promptly, and share relevant content,” Shelepin says.

Don’t forget about email. It is a great way to maintain customer relationships and to deliver exclusive content and special offers like discounts, Shelepin explains.

Shelepin acknowledges that businesses won’t realize success in the digital realm overnight, but stresses that success is possible to achieve.

“It’s important to maintain consistency, in creating content and engaging on media platforms, as building an online presence takes time,” Shelepin concludes. “By adhering to these strategies, small businesses can cultivate a strong digital presence, enabling them to thrive in today’s competitive landscape.”

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LinkedIn Expands ID Verification to More Regions

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LinkedIn Expands ID Verification to More Regions

LinkedIn continues to expand its own identity verification offering, via a new partnership with Persona which will enable users in more regions to confirm their ID in the app.

As you can see in this sequence, with LinkedIn’s new ID verification process, users in certain regions now able to confirm their ID documents with Persona, in order get a verification badge added to your LinkedIn profile, which confirms that you’ve uploaded and verified your government ID with one of LinkedIn’s partner providers.

LinkedIn Persona ID confirmation

You can see the verified icon next to my profile name in the second image, which adds another level of assurance that I am, in fact, a real human being, with a government ID linked to my identity.

LinkedIn initially launched ID verification for users in the U.S. back in April, via a partnership with identity platform CLEAR, which is best known for providing faster check-in at airports. LinkedIn then expanded its CLEAR partnership to enable users in Canada and Mexico to also confirm their documents, with this new partnership providing the ID confirmation option to a lot more users.

As per LinkedIn:

In Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, the identity verification is performed by Persona, a third-party identity verification service. It’s available in each country for those with a valid NFC-enable passport.”

(Note: It may not be available to all users in all of these regions as yet)

So, the requirement is that you need a government-issued passport, with an NFC chip, and a means to scan that chip in as part of the process, though Persona notes that “if you’ve ever used your phone to tap for payment, then it is NFC-enabled”.

So now, a lot more LinkedIn users will be able to confirm their identity, and add an extra layer of assurance to their profile, helping to let people know that they are dealing with an actual person, and that your information is more likely to be legit.

And given the latest advances in generative AI, and LinkedIn’s rising push to add generative AI tools into every aspect of its platform, it does seem like this could become an essential step, as more bot profiles and personas get added to social apps.

That’s been part of the justification for X’s broader push on ID verification, which has now stretched to charging new users in some regions a small fee to interact in the app.

X owner Elon Musk has repeatedly noted the rising risk of AI-enabled bots taking over social apps, with user payments, in his view, being the only way to stop them. But LinkedIn’s trying another approach, and it does seem like providing free ID confirmation will be more widely adopted, which could make it more effective in this respect.

And by outsourcing the actual verification element to a third party, it’s also less labor intensive, though it does also mean that another group is involved, which can make some feel a little uneasy about sharing their documentation and selfies.

Still, it’s a pretty simple process, and it’s free, and if LinkedIn starts putting more emphasis on verified accounts, by say, ranking them higher in search results, that could get a lot more people taking it up, and adding a gray tick.

The other question then is what do CLEAR and Persona get out of this deal?

In both cases these ID platforms get more data, with users also required to open a CLEAR account when confirming their info via its system. Persona will also take in some user data, which will expand its database, though you can opt out of letting either company keep your info in perpetuity.

Persona also notes that it will generate “facial geometries for both the image obtained from your government ID and the user submitted selfie”, which it will then use in its analysis with your ID to confirm your info, though Persona won’t keep your geometric data on file.

Essentially, you’re going to have to trust your ID data with another company, which not everyone will be comfortable with. But if you’re okay with it, again, the process is easy, and it could add some extra assurance to your LinkedIn presence.

You can learn more about LinkedIn’s ID confirmation options here.

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Ad Spend Wasted On Invalid Traffic Could Reach $72B In 2024 11/28/2023

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Ad Spend Wasted On Invalid Traffic Could Reach $72B In 2024 11/28/2023

The latest analysis of the effects of
invalid traffic/IVT estimates that the problem will result in $72.37 billion in wasted ad spend in 2024 — up 33% from an estimated $54.63 billion wasted in 2022.

The report, from marketing efficiency platform Lunio, was based on an analysis of 2.6 …



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