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Another month, another round of updates! This month we’re covering:

• The End of Mass Messaging in LinkedIn Groups (And Introducing Once-a-Week Post Recommendations)

• Facebook Dating is Now Facebook Official

• DIY Augmented Reality Filters Coming to Instagram

• Snap Introduces Spectacles 3

• New Facebook Group Privacy Settings Explained

• …And more!

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The End of Mass Messaging in LinkedIn Groups

(And Introducing Once-a-Week Post Recommendations)

BACKGROUND: Many a LinkedIn user has developed a love-hate relationship with their group memberships over the years. The sharing of knowledge and networking within these groups can be invaluable, but they also have the tendency to attract spam posts and self promotion. These problems have been getting better, however, and this recent change should be another step in the right direction.

NEW FEATURE: There was a time when a LinkedIn Group administrator mass-message the entire group membership. This is no longer possible, but admins have now gained the ability to recommend a post. This will notify all members about the content (depending on their personal settings, as well as LinkedIn’s “proprietary algorithms that are specific to each member’s notification frequency”).

Admins can recommend up to 1 post per week. Recommended post types include:

• Announcements of important information or events.

• Highlight interesting or trending conversations.

If you’d like to learn more about how to recommend a post as an admin, or if you’re interested in adjusting your notification settings as a group member, check out the Help page.

For more help starting a LinkedIn group, check out this PDF Guide provided by LinkedIn.

Facebook Dating is Now Facebook Official

First announced at the F8 Conference in 2018, Facebook Dating is now being fully rolled out in the US.

Here are the key features you need to know about:

• It integrates with both FB and Instagram. The integration with IG is especially meant to help users build out their profile and “spark connections.”

• Stories will be shareable within FB Dating.

• “Secret Crush” will help users match with people they already know.

• FB is emphasizing proactive privacy features* that will be included with the service, such as sharing date details and/or live location with a friend via Messenger, and prohibiting people from sending photos/videos/links/payments in messages.

• An “Opt into Events and Groups” feature is meant to help users “see people with similar interests” based on the events and groups to which they belong.

*There are, of course, those who have concerns about how this service will affect digital privacy as well as how it will integrate with Facebook’s advertising practices. Whether those concerns are warranted or not, it will be interesting to chart the success of Facebook Dating and how it might come into play with brands.

Check out Facebook.com/dating for more info.

DIY Augmented Reality Filters Coming to Instagram

Discover more augmented reality effects – or make your own! 🤩😍🤯

Spark AR now lets anyone create custom effects and the new Effect Gallery helps you find the perfect one. https://t.co/cawaRxEeiwpic.twitter.com/TlpM3ObYsi

— Instagram (@instagram) August 13, 2019

Here’s an exciting one for those who want to get really creative on Instagram: Through Facebook’s Spark AR platform, you can now build augmented reality effects and publish them for use via the Instagram Camera’s Effects Tray. The announcement also details a new creator community via Facebook Groups.

Here are some examples of homemade AR effects in action:

This could be a perfect new tool for those heavily invested in Instagram Stories. To learn how to get started, check out the Learn Spark AR Studio Tutorial.

Snap Introduces Third Spectacles Product

Snap announced the latest iteration of their eyeglasses product last month: “Spectacles 3.”

The biggest change is the addition of 3D effects thanks to the second camera. (The resulting images and videos are pretty cool.) The new glasses are available to order for $380 in either Carbon or Mineral (pictured above) via Spectacles.com.

New Facebook Group Privacy Settings Explained

Closed and Secret groups have now been renamed to public and private, with the option to make private groups either visible or hidden to non-members (see graphic above). Essentially this means you can have these group types:

• Public = Group content and members are completely visible and findable to nonmembers.

• Private + Visible = Anyone can find the group but only members can see a list of other members and the content posted in the group.

• Private + Hidden = Only group members can find the group, let alone see membership/content.

(TBD if this is more or less confusing…)

According to The Verge, Facebook has also “updated its policies to hold admins to higher standards, committing to penalize the overall group if moderators approve posts that break the platform’s rules.” Additionally, FB’s machine learning/AI algorithms are being used to “proactively detect bad content before anyone reports it, and sometimes before people even see it.”

To edit your Facebook Group’s privacy settings as an admin, head to the group’s “More” three-dot menu on desktop and choose Edit Group Settings, then scroll to the Privacy section.

To review the privacy settings of the groups you’re in as a member, just visit the group and look at the privacy label below the group name:

More Links to Check Out

• Girlboss launches a “LinkedIn for Millennial women” (FastCompany)

• How to take good Instagram photos: 5 tips to try now (Sprout Social blog)

• Facebook begins rolling out updated desktop layout (SocialMediaToday)

• Bringing authoritative vaccine results to Pinterest search (Pinterest Blog)

• Facebook Lead Generation tool for Messenger (FB Business Blog)

• New “Off-Facebook Activity” tool coming Soon (FB Newsroom)

• How China uses LinkedIn to recruit spies (NYTimes)

• Fighting Instagram's $1.3 billion fake followers problem (Wired)

• Snapchat introduces Instant Create for Ads (Snapchat Business Blog)

Looking for More Social Media Help?

The expert team at Dooley Social Studio helps brands get attention by being thoughtful about how they give it. Our goal is to make every social interaction with your company a remarkable one. Get in touch to find out how a partnership with dooley media can grow your brand.

Catch up on last month's social media updates (August 2019) →

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