T
he final countdown is on for eating way too much at Thanksgiving, spending gobs of money on Black Friday sale items and prepping the house for the holiday season. This can only mean one thing. November is coming to an end. And before you get too wrapped up in end-of-year festivities, take some time to check out what’s been happening in social media:
Google+ got a facelift, again: This update is all about simplicity. In addition to becoming mobile friendly, the rebuild allows users to have a fast and consistent experience, no matter the screen size. And based on audience feedback, Communities and Collections are now front and center.
YouTube introduced translation features: In an effort to help creators make their content more accessible and understandable to an international audience, YouTube has added community-contributed subtitles, translated titles and descriptions and the option to purchase professional translations right from the Video Manager.
Facebook is working on new tools for nonprofits: Facebook is testing new features including a place where nonprofit organizations can tell their campaign story, rally supporters, collect donations and visibly track progress toward a goal for year-end drives, themed campaigns and special projects. A more prominent Donate button will allow people to send money in just a few taps and then share their donations with friends.
LinkedIn Groups got updated: All LinkedIn groups are now standard or unlisted, and are both private. LinkedIn also introduced a Groups app which makes it easy to engage with group members from a mobile device.
Instagram is cracking down on third-party applications: The company has updated its developer guidelines with new rules that will limit third-party developers’ access to its platform. The changes are meant to “help maintain control for the community.”
Pinterest introduced a visual search tool: When users spot something in a pin that they want to learn more about, they can tap the search tool in the corner and then select the part of the pin they are interested in to see pins that are just like it. The filter will also allow users to filter their visual search results by topic so that it’s easy to find exactly what they’re looking for.
