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The Week in Social: Facebook loss, Twitter apps, and YouTube hashtags

30 Jul 2018 Bradley Walker

The week in social

120 billion, with a ‘B’

It was a bombshell. If you hadn’t heard it by now, then we hope you had a great vacation… on the moon… with your fingers in your ears. On Wednesday night, Facebook stock lost nearly 120,000,000,000 dollars in value. That loss is 4 times the market worth of Twitter. Or, it’s very nearly market value of McDonald’s. Overnight, every McDonald’s in existence disappeared.

The drop in value can be attributed to the outcome of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, slowing user growth, and CFO David Wehner’s announcement that the business would be in a squeeze. The squeeze, he indicated, would be because the company has to reinvest in heading off concerns about privacy while still maintaining profitability. Essentially, protecting user privacy is expensive.

Facebook Aquila gets satellites

Part of the reason Facebook’s value fell is the sense that the company is nearing market saturation. At this point, most people in the world that have access to Facebook have already made a decision to join or not to join. The answer? Bring connectivity to the half of the world that doesn’t enjoy internet access. Facebook is officially ditching high-flying internet-providing drones in favor of satellites.

Facebook in China

Also in the realm of places that do not have access to Facebook, China may be warming to a Facebook presence. Facebook will be building an “Innovation Hub” in Hanzhou. The hub will support Chinese startups, innovators and developers. This is not the un-banning that Zuckerberg might be driving toward, but it is a foot in the door.

Syndicating shows in Snapchat

Complex Network’s hit show “Sneaker Shopping” will soon be found on SnapChat’s Discover page. The show will join other existing properties such as “Hot Ones”, “Worth It”, “Struggle Meals” and “Weekend Refresh”. The shift to syndicated content veers from Snapchat’s previous strategy of creating original programming.

Google Events

If it’s happening near you, Google will find it. Searching for “events near me” will show you all the concerts, events, shows, tastings, and more. Google says the feature provides more relevant results, with less searching and clicking. The feature also includes a “For You” feature, an algorithm-driven list of personalized events. It’s one more way to discover what Google thinks of you.

Twitter axes 143,000 apps

Health. Civility. Transparency. Accountability. Twitter uses all these words to describe their company directive. Backing that statement up, Twitter removed access for 143,000 apps. The apps reportedly violated Twitter’s privacy policy. In addition to the ban, Twitter has relaunched their registration process. The new process means policy checks will be run on all new apps to reduce spam and other malicious endeavors.

Instagram Story reactions

On Instagram, the only way to respond to a good story is to DM its author. The need for the occasional love, like, thumbs up or other has been growing, and Instagram is responding. Reddit users spotted a trial version of emoji responses within Instagram stories. We’re eager to see the feature rolled out worldwide.

YouTube has Hashtags now

Hashtags are the conversational connective goo on Twitter and Instagram. YouTube is stepping into the fray by enabling tag use in titles and descriptions. The feature is only available on Android Web for now.