Social Media News Round-Up: 26/02/21

Feb 26

LinkedIn is developing a new freelance marketplace platform

LinkedIn is building a new service that will allow its members to find freelancers to work with in a new freelance marketplace platform. The platform will allegedly also use a digital wallet to pay freelancers through LinkedIn. It seems like a natural progression for LinkedIn, which has become an evermore important platform for jobseekers in the wake of the pandemic, with the new feature also following on from their ‘ProFinder’ tool which lets members search for freelancers and use them for projects.

WhatsApp says it will switch off messages for users who reject new policy terms

WhatsApp has finally announced what will happen to users who reject or do not accept its new terms and conditions update by the deadline on 15th May. The messaging app says that these users will be listed as ‘inactive’, meaning they will be unable to receive or send messages, and these accounts will then be deleted after 120 days if the update remains unaccepted.

Twitter announces paid Super Follows to let you charge for tweets and new Safety Mode feature

This week, Twitter shared details on its first ever paid product, its new “Super Follow” feature. The payment feature will allow Twitter users to charge followers and give them access to extra content, such as bonus tweets, access to a community group and subscription to a newsletter. Twitter has previously hinted at its plans for a newsletter subscription service after it acquired Revue earlier this year, but the Communities feature appears to be a newer concept for the platform and will resemble Facebook Groups.

Twitter also announced plans for a new feature, called “Safety Mode”, that will allow users to automatically block and mute abusive accounts. The feature will come in the form of a toggle which users can flip on and off to control and flag trolling on the platform.

Social media platforms roll out new initiatives for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Major social media platforms TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest have all announced initiatives this week in support of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which aims to raise awareness of eating disorders and educate the public. Social media has often been attributed to playing a significant role in exposing users to an unhealthy portrayal of body image and fueling a comparative and competitive environment, particularly for young people. The initiatives include new support tools and resources to help users who might be experiencing issues relating to eating disorders, including the option to talk to a friend, helpline volunteer or find ways to support yourself on Instagram, educational infographics and support links on Pinterest and a range of support resources and tips flagged up by eating disorder-related search terms on TikTok.

LinkedIn introduces Stories for Pages

LinkedIn has announced this week several new features for its Pages, including the expansion of Stories with swipe-up links. This comes after a range of new features and developments from the platform, including swipe-up links being added to Stories for some of its creators.

Facebook and Instagram introduce cross-app messaging

Facebook and Instagram have (finally) introduced cross-app messaging, allowing users to find and message one another from one app to the other. And it doesn’t just apply to written DMs - users will also be able to video chat and reshare posts across the platforms too.

Facebook reverses ban on news pages in Australia

After Facebook took measures to ban news pages in Australia last week, it has now been reversed after ‘talks’ between the Australian government and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg. The Australian Treasurer is now saying that amendments will be made to the law, which was proposed to force tech giants like Facebook and Google pay news publishers for content in an effort to ‘level the playing field’ for news publishers.