#SocialMediaRoundup – The week that was

The week starting July 18^th proved to be an important one for Facebook, as thesocial media giant rolled out updates after updates. Snapchat too contributed to the headlines this week. While it appeared there were no major updates as such from Twitter, it did give us some big news.

Take a look at this week’s round-up to see what the kept the social world on their toes this time around.

Facebook Quick Updates yet another attempt to replicate Snapchat

The new feature has been named ‘Quick Updates’ and is accessible to users who can see a smiley icon on the top right corner of their Facebook app. The one glaring similarity between Snapchat’s Snap Story feature and Quick Updates is the posts will disappear after 24 hours and users can also add friends to the group who can see the (Quick) updates.

Facebook Messenger reaches the billion users mark

It now joins WhatsApp, which leads the instant messaging category with more than 1.2 billion users worldwide. Messenger has now joined its parent company Facebook with WhatsApp to establish the giant’s dominance over the top three most popular apps in the world.

Facebook for Android to offer offline videos

The new feature was initially meant for India but has been made available to users on the Android platform across the world. Bad cellular reception hampers users from watching videos on Facebook and this issue is most commonly experienced by Facebook mobile users in India.

Snapchat gets up close and personal with Bitmojis

To use Bitmojis on their phones users will have to download the Bitmoji app on their phones and then link it with Snapchat. There are also reports that users can ‘Friendmoji’ one another and go on to use each other’s Bitmoji avatars. Users can look forward to an enhanced experience on a more personal level as personalized emojis will increase traffic on the app.

Snapchat simplifies account recommendation

Earlier adding a new account was a tedious job as it could only be done by memorizing and entering a username into the Add Friend bracket. This hampered Snapchat users from adding new accounts to their list and kept them confined to viewing posts from the same people.

Facebook to help app based businesses with App Event Optimization

App Event Optimization will provide collective data compiled through Facebook, Instagram and the Audience Network and enable businesses to eliminate wasted efforts and effectively target app users who are more likely to use their apps to take valuable action and often.

Now Anyone Can Get The Blue Verification Tick On Twitter

Up until now, Twitter verified only selected accounts, such as those belonging to political leaders, actors, stand-up comedians, journalists, and sports persons. Among millions of users, Twitter has only about 187,000 verified accounts.

Facebook was yet again seen trying to battle Snapchat with all force. Nonetheless, none of their attempts have impacted the latter yet. However, offline videos and App Event Optimization definitely add another carrot in Facebook’s basket. Snapchat on the other hand pulled off a Facebook well by initiating account recommendations now and Memories last week.

Twitter’s verification update could eventually help in deleting fake and repulsive account, so that’s some good news.

In addition to these platform updates, Kabali fever firmly gripped the socialverse. Twitter was also seen tripping over Rahul Gandhi’s alleged nap in parliament.

Well, that was that. Stay tuned in for fresh updates in the coming week.