Has Social Media Gone Too Far with Location Sharing?

Snapchat has recently come out with an update that automatically shares your location to your entire list of friends. It is only once you go into your settings and set your profile to “ghost mode” that you are hidden from being seen. Many are concerned that this feature could be potentially dangerous due to over sharing.

This update takes creepy to a whole new level. It will even show your “bitmoji” or your avatar in the car if you’re driving, or with headphones if you are listening to music off of your phone. It also includes street names on the map and locates you in the specific area of whatever building you may be in.

Updates on various apps including location settings and features such as check-ins call for a constant reminder to always be selective and smart about how much information you put out there about yourself. Many people of all ages are guilty of over sharing information on various platforms or social media.

Although Snapchat’s new location feature only allows Snapchat friends to see your whereabouts, it’s always smart to be aware of who you are adding as friends, and that if you choose to keep this feature turned on that all of those people can watch where you go at the swipe of a finger!

If you don’t like being watched but are unaware of how to turn this location feature off, follow these quick instructions!

           

1.     Open up the Snapchat app

2.     Use 2 fingers in a pinching motion to swipe open the map

3.     Tap the bar next to “Ghost Mode” to turn it on

Lastly, if you want to customize which friends can see your location with this feature, you can go into settings and handpick the 

Written by Meagan Catalfmao of Rebecca Adele PR & Events

The Importance of Evolving with Social Media

With social media constantly evolving at a fast pace, it’s important now more than ever to keep up to speed with advancements. It’s crucial for companies to be using these new features of social media to reach their target markets. The first thing to remember when looking at a new update is to ask if it makes sense for your brand by analyzing who your audience is, as well as what social media platform is most viewed. Not all aspects of social media make sense for every company and their audiences.

About a year ago, Instagram adopted a new feature allowing users to post live videos as well as stories to their profile. I think that this update in particular is one of the best yet. Similar to Snapchat, the Instagram stories post photo or video (as well as boomerangs) that disappear after a 24-hour period. This allows different companies to post more content without overloading their followers with mass amounts of information and photos on their feed. Regular Instagram posts can contain captions and heavier information, while Instagram stories are quicker and can use features such as filters, stickers and writing to make posts more fun and interactive.

Some companies that could benefit from a feature such as this one would include brands that sell products that can easily be marketed through photo or video. Think of this feature as a mini advertisement showing people using the products being sold in real time. It is a great way to show off different tangible products as well as events that are directly related to a specific company and express their overall brand.

Some key-tips to posting Instagram stories for businesses are to post special offers. Due to the short amount of time that stories last, this will put incentive into the consumers mind. Also, give a behind-the-scenes look into the company. This will make viewers/customers feel like they have more of a personal connection with the brand. Another great way to cater to viewers is to show a tutorial. For example, a makeup brand could post a few quick stories showing how to use a specific product or show how a certain color or makeup looks like on different skin tones.

Be sure to keep these tips and ideas in mind when deciding whether or not to branch out deeper into the social media world!

 Written by Meagan Catalfamo from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Facebook Messenger unveils usernames and scannable profile codes to the app

With the popularity of the Facebook Messenger app rising, the social media network has only been searching for ways to make it easier for users to connect with one another.

“Starting today we are taking another step forward in delivering a new solution to the more than 900 million people who use Messenger every month,” the company stated.

Facebook has been looking for a way to make the app more personalized. Just as with all accounts, Messenger accounts now have personalized links people can use to start a chat – all users can be located at m.me/[username].

In addition, Facebook is coming out with Messenger Codes, which are the app’s equivalent to Snapchat’s snapcodes. The Messenger Codes are a series of dots and dashes around your profile picture, and allows others to scan the code with their camera to add you as a contact! The codes can either be scanned phone-to-phone or scanned onto your phone if the code is up on a computer screen.

The advancement may not seem as big of a deal now, but is a huge deal when looking at the bigger picture of Messenger’s future. By the end of the year, Facebook wants messenger to not only be a way to connect with friends, but become a place for users to chat with companies and customer service bots, and have useful information sent to you.

The app’s come a long way in a short period of time. Who knows what else the company has in store!  

Written by Sam Velotta from Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Snapchat Announces Custom Geofilters!

It’s safe to say most Snapchat users all get a little bummed out when visiting somewhere that doesn’t have a geofilter. With the app’s new feature, this won’t be a problem for much longer!

Snapchat has officially introduced on-demand geofilters, which allows users to create their own custom filters, which will temporarily appear within the app. 

The idea for this feature is to give users the opportunity to create a custom geofilter for any event, from a house party to graduation to a wedding! Though a similar feature has been available for quite some time, the on-demand feature is much more cost efficient and customizable, starting at just $5. Who wouldn’t want to create their own geofilter for their next event?  

The process is pretty simple, too. Users can submit their custom filter on their new online portal in three simple steps: 

1. Design – Users can create their custom filter on their preferred image editor. Snapchat has also provided users with templates compatible with Photoshop and Illustrator to aid in the creative process. 

2.  Map – In this step, users pick a date and time they want the geofilter to be available. 

3. Buy – Finally, users submit their final geofilter and checkout. Once submitted, the Snapchat team will quickly review the design and get it up and running.

Users can choose spaces that are a minimum of 20,000 square feet to a maximum of 5,000,000 square feet – to put into perspective, that’s roughly the size of a business’ office to a few blocks around a city. As far as the run time, the custom filters can stay live from an hour to thirty days. 

On-demand filters are now available to users across the U.S., UK and Canada, and will be available in more countries soon. Be sure to create a geofilter for your next event! 

 Written by Samantha Velotta of Rebecca Adele PR & Events

Social Media and its Impact on the Fashion Industry

Social media is changing the way the world does business, specifically in the fashion industry. Aside from the obvious, where we can buy an adorable pair of boots in our pajamas from home, its impact has a HUGE reach and impact on the consumer and industry today. 

In today's tech-age, designers have a huge advantage with social media to communicate with their target customers. Whether it's a quick Facebook post, or a tweet to massive amounts of followers, the impact is astounding! For the public, customers also love being able to see their favorite designers' new line as soon as it is out, something that couldn't be done before. From browsing through their website, to seeing their designs on Vogue.com, or their favorite fashion blog, the customer can give the designer immediate feedback through their social media outlets. What's great about social media, is instead of a top down society like what use to dominate the fashion industry, the average fashion blogger can now influence a designer, as much as his own team using through the simple use of social media outlets.

Another great aspect of social media, is designers can utilize the tool as a polling medium. Never before, designers can now get realtime feedback on their newest designs. This includes, but is not limited to pulling inspiration from customer feedback, street style, and bloggers. With the addition of visual sites like Facebook and Pinterest, inspiration is literally just a click away!

Another new trend is the impact that social media has on Fashion Week. By creating an open conversation online with designers and the public, this creates community involvement from celebrities to the cashier at the grocery store. Customers can see all the greatest designs straight from the runway through various mediums including bloggers and celebrities posting their favorite looks on their social media pages. New to the scene, even Snapchat stories. This popular medium even has a specific feed for fashion week coverage! 

In addition, to the typical social mediums, every fashion show during Fashion Week is also recorded and posted online. Many times these shows are also fed live and streamed into the designers' stores as the shows are happening!

With the world of technology constantly changing, social media will constantly be changing as well. This innovative industry goes hand-in-hand with the world of fashion, a fast forward, fast moving innovative industry in its own right. What better way to share that message then with an outlet that is just as innovative as the industry itself?!

Written by Sarah Orlando of Rebecca Adele PR & Events