The week in social: Custom Snapchat stories, Instagram archive, and Twemoji

Instagram offers archived posts to reduce photo deletion

A new feature that is in testing by Instagram aims to reduce the amount that users actually delete photos from their stream. If a user no longer wants to feature their photo, they can archive it now, and any archived photos will appear within an archive page that only that user can see. According to TechCrunch, Instagram will continue to update the feature as it rolls it out to a wider set of users.

Twitter debuts a Direct Message Card

Twitter is providing a new way for businesses to reach customers individually by introducing a Direct Message Card. Advertisers can use the Direct Message Card to send information about a brand bot, or other customer experiences. The cards can feature a mix of images and videos, and are able to include up to four call-to-action buttons.

More information on Twitter Blog.

Pinterest expands the functionality of its Lens beta

As users are expanding the ways they try to use the beta feature Lens, Pinterest is expanding the feature’s functionality in kind. Specifically tailored to those who are looking for inspiration with food, Pinterest’s Lens will soon be able to decipher fully prepared food dishes and provide pin results that tell users how to make that dish. This is in addition to the already 750 categories of items that Lens can identify.

Snapchat launches customizable Stories

Snapchat has earlier this week launched a new way for users to collaborate with each other through custom Stories. Custom Stories can be started by anyone, and the user who starts the Story can choose who can contribute to it, and the geo-fence for where it can be consumed. Snapchat has positioned custom Stories as a fit for specific events or moments between friends. If no one contributes to the Story for a full 24 hours, the entire Story disappears.

More information on Snap.com.

Twitter now supports even more Emoji

As part of its efforts to bring more features to users, Twitter has now started to support additional emojis from Emoji 5.0, which in turn allows for the use of 69 new emoji variations. The icons will be view-able within any official Twitter application and on Twitter on the web, but they will default to other emoji when used or viewed on third party apps if they have not updated to Emoji 5.0 yet. Twitter has also released all of its versions of the emoji into its ‘Twemoji’ open source repository.

Pinterest adds auto-play video to its advertising options

With the latest ad option from Pinterest, users can now place video ads that will auto-play as users scroll past them in the feed, much like how videos and sponsored videos auto-play on Facebook. The unit on Pinterest is a pay per impression model, so the effective cost per view goes down in relativity for each full view that the ad gets. Users who have seen a video ad on Pinterest can also be added into a retargeting pool for follow up campaigns.

More information on Pinterest Blog.

Facebook users can now order food on the app

Users are increasingly able to do more on social apps such as Facebook, and the newest feature of the biggest social platform is ordering delivery food. A new option on the main menu, users can tap ‘Order Food’ on the app, and get delivery through Delivery.com or Slice, two services that Facebook has partnered with. The option is also available on Facebook on the desktop. Users can go through the entire experience from choosing a location to order the food from, adding a tip to their order, and then paying straight on Facebook. This is the latest among features aimed at keeping users in the Facebook app, such as providing weather, payment services, and city guides.

Instagram introduces hashtag and location stories

Instagram Stories have continued to grow in popularity, with the latest statistics showing the feature has over 200 million daily active users. To provide those users with more features Instagram is now debuting new ways to search for Stories. The first it with locations, where when a user opens up the Explore tab, they will sometimes see a new Story ring with their current location listed so that they can see Stories relevant to where they are. Second, when a user searches a hashtag in Explore, they may see a Stories ring at the top of their search query, with Stories using that tag. These features are being rolled out as part of Instagram’s 10.22 update.