by Amy RountreeSocial media is a busy world, and the past week has been no different. We’ve pulled together some of the top, recent headlines. Read on to discover the Olympiad emojis and live stream shopping on YouTube, and say goodbye to Twitter Fleets.
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With the 32nd Olympic games about to kick-off in Tokyo, Twitter has outlined how it's looking to help users take part in discussion around the event.
From Twitter: ‘Fans worldwide can use the official Olympics Twitter emoji throughout the Games. The emoji will unlock when you Tweet #Olympics and related hashtags in more than 30 languages. Twitter will also have emojis for each country competing, unlocked when you Tweet three-character country hashtags. Lastly, fans can cheer on the Refugee Olympic Team during the Games by Tweeting #EOR to unlock their team emoji.’
Witness greatness
Tweet with greatness#SimoneBiles#Simone pic.twitter.com/M6RKzP3KB6— Twitter Sports (@TwitterSports) July 21, 2021
From now on, when you see a Story with overlaid text in another language, you'll have the option to translate that text on-screen. According to Instagram, over 90 languages are currently supported through this functionality - though currently translations are only available for text, with no capacity for direct audio conversion.
Even without translated audio, this move from Instagram could still considerably improve accessibility - while for brands, it may also provide a means to branch into new markets, with promotions that can be easily translated by users within the app.
It may sound like Twitter is planning to introduce a ‘dislike’ feature on Tweets, however the platform is currently running a test to sense-check Tweets (on iOS only), offering users the option to up-or-down votes in replies. Up votes will be recorded as likes, however down votes won’t be recorded anywhere on the Tweet itself at all, and will not be made public.
Twitter says "We're hoping to better understand what people believe are relevant replies, and how that matches up to what Twitter suggests as most the relevant replies under a Tweet."
Some of you on iOS may see different options to up or down vote on replies. We're testing this to understand the types of replies you find relevant in a convo, so we can work on ways to show more of them.
Your downvotes aren’t public, while your upvotes will be shown as likes. pic.twitter.com/hrBfrKQdcY
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 21, 2021
Similar to TikTok's experiment with live-stream shopping, YouTube will soon begin a new test of in-stream shopping within its live-streams, using a small number of creators, as part of the ongoing expansion of its creator monetisation and eCommerce tools.
With a broader shift in shopping related content in other apps, the indication is that in time we will see user behaviours change, and the expectations of the platforms shift as a result.
Fleets, Twitter’s answer to the popular Stories feature on other apps, will be discontinued in August. According to Twitter, the platform is evolving and is trying ‘bigger, bolder things to serve the public conversation.’
So, goodbye to Fleets; a feature that turned out to be more fleeting than planned.
More from Twitter here.
