The week in social: Facebook Live, Snapchat deep links, and Vimeo 4K

Facebook Live streaming now available to all users

Facebook Live, the live-streaming function previously only available to verified accounts and celebrities has now become available to all Facebook users, starting from this past Thursday. When streams are complete, they will be uploaded direct to a user’s Facebook page. The videos also auto-play just like all Facebook videos across desktop and mobile. It is speculated that this is a likely a move to compete with the increasingly popular standalone mobile live-streaming apps Meerkat and Periscope.

More information on Recode.net.

Listing of most Instagrammed places in America is released

Instagram in partnership with TIME magazine has released a listing of the top most geo-tagged locations for post by state in the United States. Most of the choices are likely favorites, such as Disney World for Florida, and Times Square for New York, and other popular locations include holiday resorts and sports stadiums. TIME released this in the form of an interactive map that accompanies a gallery with the top picks.

#Love is the most popular hashtag on Instagram for the third year

#Love has been determined as the top used hashtag on Instagram for the third year in a row. The hashtag has seen over 800 million uses to date on the network, while the most liked individual post was one from Kendall Jenner, that used a heart symbol as the comment, accruing 3.2 million likes. The hashtag on Twitter that is expected to close out the year as winner is #LoveWins, a tag that has been used 6.2 million times to date.

Facebook changes News Feed algorithm for viral stories

Facebook has released a new blog post detailing how they decide what viral stories to show different users. Factors that come into play include how users are liking, commenting, and sharing stories. In addition, thousands of users are surveyed each day to understand what preferences they have in the types of stories they see. Examples of surveys, as shown in the post, include Instagram pictures versus links to outbound articles. Facebook went on to comment that these preferences are less likely to affect content from brand Pages.

More information on Facebook Newsroom Blog.

Live tweeting contributes to majority of Twitter TV impressions

Based on television programs in series format, posts on Twitter during live airings of shows make up for more than half of total Twitter TV impressions, coming in at 57%, according to new data from a Nielsen report. This indexes lower for comedies at 49%, but much higher for reality television at 67%. Data also shows that the tweeting about a show during live airings reaches more than just the viewing audience, and provides opportunities for further viewership through on-demand or recorded viewing.

Facebook unveils new Page plugin features

As a way to improve a business’ Facebook Page reach for users who are visiting the business’ website, a Page plugin feature for sites was introduced last year. As the plugin has gained traction, new features are being introduced, announced from a Facebook Developers blog post. Functionality for both Messages and Events has been added, so a user can now send a message to the Facebook Page, and also see any upcoming events related to the business. In addition, any edits made to Page events will automatically be updated on what appears through the plugin, and users can subscribe to events directly from the plugin on the site as well.

More information on Facebook Developers Blog.

Snapchat now allows deep linking to Discover content

Popular publishers who have partnered with Snapchat to provide Discover content are now able to deep link to their channels of the ephemeral messaging service, driving people from websites, and more importantly other social apps, back into Snapchat. it is predicted that publishers will see an uptick in viewership, as it allows people to be driven to Snapchat content without starting off on Snapchat. This also potentially will stem the use of third party apps that force Snapchat content onto other networks. Currently, Snapchat Discover publishers make up 16 partners but many other brands have developed presences on the platform.

More information on Digiday.

LinkedIn launches updated mobile app

The LinkedIn mobile app for both iOS and Android has been redesigned in an effort to make the user experience more streamlined. Browsing through the app has been split into five tabs; Me, My Network, Messages, Search and Home. The new apps also include an app launched so that users can easily hope from the core LinkedIn app to the Jobs app, or Groups. According to LinkedIn, the search function on the app has now become over 300 times faster, in an effort to make the best use of professionals’ time.

Facebook rumored to be testing translations

Although not officially announced, Facebook seems to be testing an automatic translation functionality, whereby users who see content in languages outside of their settings-based language, have it automatically translated. For example, if a user with their language set to English sees Spanish-language posts, those will be translated to English without a prompt. Additional features of this new option allows users to opt-out, as well as rate the actual translation for quality. There is currently no launch date for the feature.

More information on Social Times.

Vimeo introduces 4K streaming for all partners

Vimeo pro users have been able to view and upload video in 4K resolutions for some time, but now adaptive streaming is being rolled out to all users across the service. Streaming in this resolution will take place across the web platform, embedded videos, and Vimeo on Demand. Vimeo had chosen not to previously release 4K streaming to all users based on the lack of consumer devices owned that actually supported 4K. According to Vimeo, they are now the biggest open on-demand platform streaming 4K content.

More information on The Next Web.