The week in social: Hatch, FB at Work, and Firefox Hello

Most marketers will increase social spending this year

In a recent report from Salesforce of 5,000 marketers regarding budgets for the 2015 calendar year, 70% of them stated that they would increase spending from their marketing budget on social media. The comes across two separate categories, as 70% plan to increase in terms of ad spend on social, and 70% also intend to increase spend on organic social. Out of the total grouped surveyed, two thirds of them (66%) also said that social media was essential to their business. 38% of those polled will also be moving additional dollars from traditional media to digital this year.

More information Social Times.

Facebook launching Amber alerts for news feed

In the United States, where Facebook has approximately 185 million users, AMber alerts will now be shown in the news feed through a partnership with National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The alerts will be shown to users who are in a geographically relevant area, and the alerts will include all available information on the missing child, including a photograph. Users do not have to sign up for the service, and it is estimated that they will see 1-2 alerts per year.

UK teens losing interest in Twitter

A recent Ofcom poll found that while Facebook remains top platform of choice for UK teens, Twitter use is falling with a 9% decrease of share to 28% from the previous year. The poll shows teen attention shifting to newer, more visual platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, a trend seen globally, with Instagram’s share more than doubling in the last 12 months.

More information on AdWeek.

Blackberry sends Tweet from iPhone

The struggling Canada-based device and software manufacturer Blackberry, known for its formerly popular keyboard-based smartphone, made a blunder earlier this week while advertising the Twitter app for its device. Tweeting from an iPhone, the company sent an update about keeping up on the conversation with Twitter. Publication The Verge screen-shotted the tweet, and it has made round across the internet for being a major social media blunder. The post was deleted shortly after it was put online. Blackberry has recently been staging a comeback with their new device, the Blackberry Classic, and it remains to be seen if the retro-inspired smartphone with Blackberry’s new OS will be a hit.

Firefox Hello enables cross-browser chats

Mozilla released version 35 of their open-source desktop Firefox. The range of updated capabilities, including easy sharing across social networks and updated MP4 video, notably includes free access to their cross-browser chat app, Firefox Hello. Compatible with the likes of Google Chrome and other Web-RTC supported browsers, users are able to start a conversation with contacts directly from the toolbar. Sign-ups for the app are not required, but doing so allows users to import contacts directly.

More information on The Next Web.

LinkedIn planning to launch two new products

LinkedIn is a popular tool for job searching and identifying new career opportunities, but a source inside the company has told Mashable that two new tools are being developed in order to bridge the gap between coworkers and colleagues. The first product will be launching to a small set of users in the coming weeks and will allow them to send InMail to coworkers even if they are not connections. InMail allows users to reach out to those who are not a connection but is often times a paid service. The second tool would focus on sharing content among a group of coworkers more easily. It remains to be seen if either product will see an official launch and when the date of launch would be.

More information on Mashable.

Facebook launches Facebook at Work

The latest in a series of standalone apps from Facebook, the company earlier this week unveiled and launched Facebook at Work, an app that lets users have a social network that looks and functions just like Facebook, but limits the pool of interactions to coworkers. Currently as an app, the service is only available on iOS, but it can also be accessed via the web. Employers can make separate log-ins for employees, or users can link their work and personal profile to access everything in one place. The move makes Facebook an enterprise social competitor with other services, such as SocialCast, and Slack. Many details of the app remain to be seen, such as if it will support advertising, or have a paid subscription model.

Snapchat seeks $750,000 per day commitment from brands

Snapchat has reportedly been making the rounds to top advertisers in search for $750,000-a-day commitments for its new ad product. Having topped 100 million monthly users, the platform believes that while the ads are fleeting, the direct and intentional engagement from the coveted teenage audience warrants the price. For context, Snapchat is asking for rates that are higher than a masthead on YouTube, where a day will set you back $500,000. Many brands are wary of paying top dollar for an ad that will disappear, especially with the lack of reporting capabilities. Snapchat declined to comment stating they do not discuss ad prices.

More information on Adweek.

Royalty of Cambridge join Twitter

Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have finally joined Twitter and Instagram. William’s younger brother, Prince Harry, has also joined Twitter, and all three of the royalty joined Instagram at the same time. The first tweets, the accounts for which represent the royalty rather than be straight from them, welcomed fans to the account and encouraged them to stay tuned for news from the royal family. Both the Twitter and Instagram accounts from William and Kate will focus on work they are doing, including charities such as the Royal Foundation.

Google search directly provides brand social links

As an additional boon to users who want information about brands when they are searching on Google, the search giant is providing direct links to brand social pages on the information card that appears to the right of search results. Social pages for celebrities have been shown in the information card section since the end of last year, but this marks the first time the feature will be available for brands. Other information shown will include recent posts by brands on the Google-owned social network, Google+. The profiles will appear on both desktop and mobile.

Facebook expands video features for Pages

Facebook page administrators are slowly gaining access to personalized video features. The additions will provide admins with the ability to organize their video sections, choose featured videos for their pages and create select playlists. When Page admins click a “Go To Videos” button or clicking the video tab, they will be brought to a menu where all of the new options are available to toggle. The new feature is not available for all Admins yet and it remains to be seen if this will see greater adoption.

Twitter launches startup contest Hatch

Twitter is launching a global startup competition for business owners that have used the Twitter API, or Fabric, the company’s mobile SDK to build their solution. The grand prize of the competition is $25 thousand, and the contest takes places with judging starting on June 8th, 2015. Finalists for the competition will present their startup for the first annual Hatch Gala this upcoming July in San Francisco.