It turns out that many of us may very well have already been interacting with a customer service chatbot, but which companies have been using them? Find out in this week’s revealing Social Snippets…
Twitter has called time on Vine
Vine is shutting down in 6.. 5.. 4.. (well, you get it). The app, made famous for its six-second videos, was bought out by Twitter back in 2012 but will now be closing down. Reports indicate that reasons behind its demise are due to lack of growth and failing to keep up with its competitors, such as Snapchat. Twitter is also keen to focus attention on its own app’s developments.
https://twitter.com/vine/status/791693541172969476
People took to Twitter to say goodbye to the app, with many social influencers thanking Vine for giving them their initial platform. Whilst most Vine users have moved on from the app in recent years, the news has highlighted the importance of having a brand presence across multiple platforms in order to secure an online influence.
Not sure what platforms are right for your business? We have the ultimate guide to each one to help you decide.
Have you been talking to a chatbot?
You might not have known yet, but Twitter has introduced a customer service chatbot for brands to use. Huge companies including Airbnb, Pizza Hut and Tesco have already implemented the new function; one that allows them to set up automated message acknowledgements and answers to FAQs.
Twitter says “When quick replies and welcome messages are used together, businesses can reduce wait times and educate people on the best ways to interact with them”. They hope companies will adopt the function, as it aims to ease transactional flows that were difficult in the past and allow users to interact on a platform they are already used to. Private messaging is a function that Twitter has fallen behind in developing compared to its competitors, so it will be interesting to see how well this feature takes off as more and more businesses start to use it.
Facebook has a new camera… or does it?
We recently mentioned that Facebook was trialling a new Snap-style feature, but in the short time since the announcement, we’ve found that they’ve been playing around with a range of other developments. Not only did they announce this week that they would be making themed virtual masks available on live streams, but users in Ireland have spotted another new feature – the new camera.
The new camera’s features include filters, custom drawings and text, private messaging and public update functions that allow users to share personal moments easily and instantly. Facebook have on a mission to become the go-to platform for video, but have been fairly quiet about their developments – until now. Mark Zuckerberg revealed this week that the new camera developments “will start to roll out broadly across the world, hopefully sooner rather than later”. Excellent.
LinkedIn’s new update means business
Are you using LinkedIn for your business? Then you may have seen some serious changes recently. On their Company homepage, LinkedIn have posted the message:
“We’ve listened to your feedback and redesigned your Company Page”
The new updates show a much more user-friendly interface, with a bigger focus on engagement analytics. Businesses will also be able to see their company page as a visitor would with the ‘member view’ function available at the top of the page.
Updates are still only at an ‘early preview stage’ but are already looking much more functional than before, with a display that is a lot more similar to Facebook’s user interface.
