What’s happened this week:
- Twitter has launched Polls as well as a new suite of storytelling and publishing tools
- Disney announced a UK streaming rival to Netflix for their own content, Disney Life
- Instagram released a standalone app Boomerang, which creates never-ending videos from 5 photos from your smartphone
What we have learned:
- 70% of emoji users think the icons help them more accurately express their thoughts
- Google Photos has reached 100m users in 5 months
- ‘LOL’ is losing the war on e-laughing – only 1.9% of Facebook posts include it, versus 51% containing ‘haha’
Cool stuff:
- Usher’s new music video for Chains uses facial recognition to ensure viewers don’t look away from its powerful social message
- Target, the US retailer, has created a 360 video Halloween series on YouTube to spook customers
- Twitter is testing Promoted Moments for the movie Creed
Where to find more:
- What does YouTube Red, the new ad-free subscription service, mean for content makers who rely on the platform to make revenues?
- Starbucks new concept bar The Reserve bar – is this the future of tech and retail experiences?
- Nice article from WSJ looking at how digital native companies such as Business Insider and Buzzfeed are making the most of Facebook video
