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The week in social: Pinterest wellness, freelancing and Slacking

29 Jul 2019 Javier de Guzman

The week in social

Pinterest cares about your wellness

At a time when mental health is more front of mind than ever, Pinterest has launched a series of wellness resources for its millions of users. When people search “stress quotes” or “work anxiety,” they’ll have the option to participate in activities such as deep-breathing and self-compassion exercises. Notably, these features look separate from the rest of Pinterest to show that the information is private and not connected to one’s account.

The effort was done in partnership with Brainstorm, the Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation, Vibrant Emotional Health, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Pinterest expects to fully roll out the features in the coming weeks.

Snapchat is snapping happily again

It appears Snapchat has made a resurgence. The app gained 13 million daily active users this past quarter, raising the global total to 203 million – the highest number since Snapchat went public.

This growth is mainly due to two factors: Snapchat’s higher investment in product features for a more global base and its good fortune in creating face filters that ended up going viral. The company estimates that around seven to nine million people joined the app this past quarter to have fun with the face filters.

Snapchat also released an updated version for Android – welcome news after years of complaints about lag and quality issues. With a big part of the world using Android, this definitely may have helped bump up the numbers as well.

LinkedIn adds new feature for freelancers

LinkedIn is helping out freelancers and SMBs with a new option that lets them input the services they provide on their profiles. Along with this, the social network has added a search option, allowing users to find people who offer similar services. From there, users can filter based on the specific service that they’re looking for.

This feature comes from the rise in freelancers in the US. With the improvements in connectivity over the recent years, coupled with the increase in people searching for unique work, it comes as no surprise that working for yourself has become a serious career path. The new tool aims to help these freelancers find work easily, and to be found by companies looking for something different.

Instagram is testing a Stories mention feature

It seems that Instagram is making it easier to see who has been tagging you in their Stories. As discovered by social media sleuth Jane Manchun Wong, a Stories About You section is being tested in the notifications tab. Instead of users needing to go through their DMs to see who has mentioned them, they’ll be able to see a list of recent tags. It’s a small quality of life improvement, but one that will be much appreciated by influencers, celebrities, and brands that get mentioned constantly.

A better way to Slack at work

Workplace messaging app Slack launched a major update this week, upgrading its desktop and web apps. There were no new features added in the update, but the technology behind these clients was almost completely rebuilt.

The new versions aim to load 33 percent faster, use 50 percent less memory, and allow for reading threads even when the internet connection drops. These changes will be felt especially among users whose computers get bogged down by being logged into multiple workspaces, which the company suggested has become increasingly common.