Sunday Rundown #47 is here, packed with the latest news. Today we share some good news for us marketers and regular internet users.
Cross-platform messaging on Facebook and Instagram
Facebook has taken its biggest step yet in integrating its various messaging platforms, allowing select users on Messenger and Instagram to message one another app to app. In addition to the launch of cross-platform messaging, Instagram is also getting a major overhaul of its DM system, which will be expanded with features taken from Messenger.
New Instagram messaging tools include vanishing messages, selfie stickers, custom emoji, chat colours, new ways to block unwanted messages, and the introduction of Messenger’s Watch Together feature, which lets you watch videos with friends during a video call.
Users will be able to reject the update if they choose, but Facebook will no doubt be betting that access to new features will encourage them to say yes. In addition to cross-platform messaging, users on Instagram and Messenger can also search for profiles across both apps simultaneously. Users can opt out of these features if they wish.
Facebook’s Accounts Center will unify login and payment info across Facebook properties
Facebook is making it easier for people to post across Facebook properties and pay for purchases they make on all its platforms. The company’s new Accounts Center will let people cross-post content across Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger.
It will also save payment information to pay for purchases on both Facebook and Instagram, although the Facebook Pay feature is coming later this year, the company says. Although it’s not required, people can also choose to sync their profile details, like their name and photo. That means if the info changes on Facebook, it’ll also automatically change on Instagram.
The new hub serves two purposes. One, it’ll benefit prolific posters, like brands and influencers who want to post the same content across their social profiles. They can now do so automatically and within Facebook. Second, saving payment information makes it easier for people to shop on Facebook and Instagram. Adding a credit card to either service is a small hurdle, but still, it’s a barrier to buying a product. With Facebook Pay syncing, people can get straight to buying regardless of the platform on which they see the ad.
Big tech faces ban from favouring own services under EU rules
Big tech firms could be banned from preferencing their own services in search rankings or exclusively pre-installing their own applications on devices, under new regulations planned by the European Union. The initiative comes as big giants such as Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google offer services across a widening array of sectors and as competitors increasingly rely on their platforms to offer their own services.
Meet the generation working to rebuild society
In the second annual edition of Culture Next, Spotify introduces us to Gen Z. In the report Spotify talked with members of Gen Z from around the world – entrepreneurs, activists, artists, young families and many others.
The new data reads:
- 62% of Gen Zs said their generation is ready to rebuild society from the ground up.
- 65% plan to be, or already are, their own boss.
Bonus links
- 4 Trends Changing the Marketing Landscape in 2020 & Beyond – Infographic
- HOTorNOT: The forgotten website that shaped the internet
- Google Pixel 5 Event in 6 minutes
Thanks for taking the time to read our Sunday Rundown #47. If you have a story that you want to see in this series, reply to us below or contact us.