Social Media & SEO

The world’s largest unboxing broadcast live on Facebook, a luxury hotel chain sharing its service values on Twitter, pancreatic cancer awareness spread through Instagram: these are just a few of the worthy social media campaigns spotlighted by the 2018 PR News’ Social Media Awards finalists. The winners of PR News’ Social Media Awards—which showcase the top social media campaigns and honor the individuals behind their success—are announced at an annual luncheon in New York City. This year, PR News’ Social Media Awards Luncheon will be held May 23, 2018 at The Yale Club.

It sometimes seems that brand communicators and marketers operate in silos within their companies. When it comes to social media, though, they appear to be reading from the same script. In 2017 the Consumer Electronics sector followed the pattern of other industry sectors by posting fewer pieces of social media content, but gaining more consumer engagement.

Several weeks ago we reported Statista’s survey of 10,000 U.S. adults 18-64 provided patterns concerning how the sexes made purchases. The differences between the sexes seemed small. This week we have another survey that shows the sexes indeed are shopping differently, at least when online devices are used. In addition, women are better bargain hunters than men.

A survey of some 2,000 Americans taken last week as the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach story was ebbing reveals few surprises. The Reuters / IPSOS survey, however, emphasizes one aspect of the future for Facebook: trust in the company has been battered.

The Selfie Generation is a difficult moniker for Millennials to be proud of. A new study from Fuse Media could help. It argues that Millennials are far more interested in values, diversity and societal issues than they appear to be. And while they are more comfortable with social media than older generations, their dependance on communications technology is highly overrated.

The March for Our Lives on March 24 attracted huge crowds across the country in support of gun reform. But upsetting the march’s No. 1 trending position on Twitter that afternoon, the National Rifle Association released an interview with rapper and activist Killer Mike. The interview was widely criticized by gun-reform advocates but it quickly became something else: a textbook example of the power influencers have to further a national conversation, sometimes at the expense of the very organization with which they are affiliated.

Instagram recently announced a change to its algorithm so that posts will now appear in a more chronological manner, finally heeding years of user complaints. But does that mean your brand should now post more frequently? How will brands be impacted by this change? Carmen Collins, social media lead for the talent brand at Cisco Systems, weighs in.

If you’re taking a break from Snapchat à la Rihanna or fed up with Facebook following the Cambridge Analytica revelations, LinkedIn and Instagram have got you covered with new features that could make communicators’ jobs a little easier. LinkedIn, well on its way to becoming a full-fledged social platform, continues to add visual storytelling elements to its offerings. This week it unveiled a video filter feature for users, complementing its new native video function.

March 21 marked 12 years since the first tweet appeared on Twitter. It’s the perfect opportunity to reflect on the platform’s successes—as well as its shortcomings—over the last dozen years.

The social media platform can be a double-edged sword for users. While Twitter has been heralded as a powerful tool for spreading awareness around important causes, it has also been the vehicle for millions of fake news-spouting accounts. To mark Twitter’s 12 years in operation, here are 12 defining moments in the platform’s history.

It’s hard to argue that the online life is a fad when you see how many Americans are online daily (77%), according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. Want more? 40% of Americans 18-29 say they are online “almost constantly.”