Here’s some of what happened in the search engine and social media industries from 22nd to 28th February 2020.
1. Snapchat-like stories on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has announced testing of a new feature (internally) to promote a “new conversational format” for business chats similar to stories on Snapchat which were introduced in 2013. Pete Davies, Head of Content Products at LinkedIn, said that the new feature could enable users to share “key moments from work events” or “tips and tricks that help us work smarter“.
It’s unclear if LinkedIn will actually launch/publicise the new feature but the company has planned wider public tests in the coming months.
[source]2. Facebook’s new photo/video sharing tool
Facebook recently announced a tool which will enable users to transfer Facebook Photos to Google Photos. This feature is based on code developed through the company’s participation in the open source Data Transfer Project. Similar sharing for other portals is expected to be rolled out also.
Initially, this option will only be available for users in Ireland; it will be available worldwide within the first half of 2020.
[source]3. Reddit will suspend upvoters for policy-violating content
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said his company will not just block users for upvoting policy-violating content but will suspend them altogether, if needed. The new policy was featured in the 2019 transparency report. Users who are warned about malign behaviour will be acted against.
This isn’t new; earlier in December 2019, Reddit had tested a ‘crowd control‘ feature to allow mods to suppress opinions/comments from people who are new to subreddit.
[source]4. Perfect pop culture GIFs in Google search
Google has launched some new tools to find the right GIF you might be looking for. You can search for a celebrity or fictional character in the drop-down box and the options will display different emotions/reactions associated with them.
Likewise, you search through various emotions to lookup a celebrity or fictional character. You can enter “shrug” and likely find GIFs of Kanye West and Oprah Winfrey etc.
[source]5. Introducing ‘Pinterest Lite’
Pinterest rolled out Pinterest Lite in South America and will launch the app globally for Android users this week. Similar to Facebook Lite and Twitter Lite, Pinterest Lite will take up less space on your device.
While the usual Pinterest app takes up around 140 MB of space, the Lite edition is slated to take up no more than 1.4 MB. The development is part of Pinterest‘s endeavour to expand its presence outside the US.
[source]