The fall season is full of change. Leaves change their color, pumpkin spice brutally divides a nation, and my social media feeds begin demanding sacrifice. If I went to a pumpkin patch but didn’t post pictures of my trip, is it like I even went? If I think Thanksgiving should get more acknowledgment but don’t rant about it on Twitter, is it like I even care? If I don’t make a big deal about the fall season in general, is it like I even care about anything?
But I digress.
What I do care about is providing you with a roundup of all the changes that are going on with social media over the past couple of weeks, and much like the nature of the fall season, there has been a lot of change going on with the Internet’s big players, starting with…
The perennial powerhouse has been hard at work the past few weeks, notably pushing its “Live” video service harder than ever before, with high visibility TV spots airing during sports events in particular. Additionally, the introduction of a “Jobs” feature for Facebook Pages looks to give small businesses a chance to reach out to a much larger network than rival sites like LinkedIn can provide.
It seems that for the most part, however, Facebook has been on the defensive as of late. The company recently dialed back their “Ethnic Affinities” tool, which allows advertisers to reach ethnic groups with relevant ads. While Facebook claims the tool is intended to be used in a non-discriminatory fashion, they have since reeled back the program after coming under fire from politicians and civil rights leaders alike, who claim that by targeting certain ethnic groups, you inherently discriminate against others. Facebook now requires advertisers to commit to not engaging in discriminatory ad practices on its site.
Additionally, Zuckerberg has found himself defending the integrity of the company’s “NewsFeed.” This is following reports that the amount of incredible news posted during the leadup to the presidential election molded the outcome, a belief Zuckerberg says is “a pretty crazy idea.” He substantiated this statement by calling upon the intelligence of the site’s user base, and placed the blame on content engagement rather than an accessibility of facts. Nevertheless, Old Man Zuck and his VP of Product Management for News Feed, Adam Mosseri, mentioned their desire to involve humans more directly in the restructuring of the platform’s ranking algorithms, ultimately creating a more personable News Feed. After Facebook announced the untimely deaths of many of its users earlier this month, this news couldn’t come at a better time.
