This week brings two new updates for Facebook users, as well as interesting quarterly report from LinkedIn. And, of course, four key CEO’s in the social media space had a congressional hearing over antitrust concerns. Learn all about it!
Let’s jump in ⬇️.
Facebook Testing New Page Display
On their mobile app, Facebook is trying out a new display for Facebook Pages that shifts the emphasis on a user to ‘Like’ the page toward ‘Following’ it instead. The new design displays the profile picture and cover photo more prominently, and the ‘Like’ button is entirely removed.
Users are still given the option to ‘Follow’ the page – in fact, this button is much bigger in the new design. The update also brings some tweaks to administrative and system functions, likely a part of Facebook’s larger effort to make switching between and managing both business and personal accounts easier.
Currently, the new design is being tested among public figures. Should this testing be expanded to general users, those specific users participating in the test will be notified.
Facebook Allows Messenger Rooms to Broadcast Live
Last week, Facebook announced that video calls on Messenger Live are now able to be broadcast to a larger audience on Facebook Live. This means calls originating in Messenger, where up to 50 people can join the call, can be viewed by a general audience from the Page, Profile, or Group where it’s shared.
Room creators have the decision to broadcast their call to a wider audience, and all other participants will then be prompted to opt in for the broadcast. Viewers from outside the Messenger room will not be able to join the call, but they’ll have the same commenting and interaction capabilities as they would on any Facebook Live.
The new feature is currently available in a handful of countries on the desktop versions of Facebook and Messenger. It will soon be rolled out in other countries, as well as on the IOS and Android versions of both apps.
LinkedIn Sees Record Engagement and Revenue Increases
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic putting a damper on many business endeavors, LinkedIn showed a strong performance in their quarterly report. Between a 10% year-over-year growth and a record engagement of 706 million users of the platform, the pandemic seemed to only bolster their success.
In addition to record engagement, the amount of content posted increased by 50% this quarter, which ended June 30th. They also took this quarterly report as a time to emphasize the release of a new app related to LinkedIn Learning in this report. The app will give professionals access to over 16,000 courses in their field via a new app.
The goal of this new app is to allow users to integrate LinkedIn Learning with courses to their content and facilitate the creation of “a continuous feedback loop between work, skills, and learning needed to upskill and reskill employees,” according to LinkedIn’s July 23rd press release.
Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google Take on Congress
On Wednesday, the CEOs of Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google all visited Congress for a discussion on antitrust concerns within each of the companies. The six-hour hearing allowed the lawmakers to question the CEOs about how their continual collection of data and profits were affecting consumers and democracy as a whole.
While the four CEOs argued that they had genuinely built what many consider to be empires, the Congressional antitrust panel challenged them – stating their successes had come at the expense of competitors and consumers. Lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum took aim at the companies, whether it be for alleged political censorship or alleged violation of policies.
In sum, the hearing did allow lawmakers to ask the questions they viewed as necessary and for the CEOs to defend their companies. As for the tangible results of the hearing, none have been presented as of yet. Once Congress debriefs and digests the events of the hearing itself, they’ll decide how to proceed in addressing antitrust concerns. Stay tuned!
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