Welcome to Social Media this week. Here’s a recap of all the big things on Social Media in the last one week.
Pinterest, a Style Guru?
Pinterest reports that figuring out what to wear is one of the bigger use cases on their app. This has prompted pinterest to use the camera lens to help users decide what to wear.
So now, instead of searching outfits with denim Jackets, simply type in casual street wear and use the camera point to your denim jacket in your closet and get outfit options based on what you have in your closet.
“The way lenses work, you take a picture of something and we try to match the picture with all the images that are most similar,” visual search product lead Jeff Harris said. “What we’ve done with Lens Your Look is taken a step deeper. We looked within our fashion pins with all the articles of clothing that are represented of that outfit. We’re not looking for whole pins with jean jackets; we’re looking for outfits where a small part is a jean jacket. It’s a good match for the 20 pixels that are a jean jacket. What we can do with combining text and visual search. Text is a clear signal; they want an outfit that really narrows it.”
But wait that’s not all from the virtual pin Board
Pinterest also rolls out its version of QR code
“Pincodes” or QR Codes by pinterest are now launched by Pinterest
Creative program lead Nancy Jeng said in a blog post that Pincodes bring mobile device users directly to products, boards or profiles on Pinterest, adding, “When someone comes across your Pincode, all they have to do is open their Pinterest camera and hold it up to scan. You can take them to any of your boards on Pinterest, or even send them right to your profile to see everything you’ve got to offer.”
Nordstrom is already using the pincodes across several of its stores. Now users can just pull out their phones and get gift ideas from Nordstrom.
Snapchat may release its redesign in early December
Plagued by disappointing results and stalled growth, Snapchat in a bid to compete against other platforms is going to release a complete redesign for the app.
After announcing Snap’s “train wreck” financial results at its earnings conference call, CEO Evan Spiegel also announced that the company is finally listening to all those people who find Snapchat difficult to understand or hard to use. It’s bringing on a new design that will hopefully make it easier to use. This move could offend its most hardcore users, and could “disrupt” business in the short term.
An anonymous source tipped Business Insider that that Snapchat could roll out the redesign by December 4. Apart from easier usability Snapchat could also monetize their stories feature to allow content creators to make money from their stories.
Facebook to introduce collaborative stories for groups and events
Collaborative stories are popular on Snapchat and Facebook has now announced its own version. Users of Facebook Groups and Events will now be able to contribute to one shared story.
All contributions will require approval by the Group or Event admin and will only be visible to members of the said Group or Event. Therefore, these collaborative Stories will remain private, depending on the settings of your Group or Event.
Connor Hayes, Facebook product manager, explains that the new collaborative Stories will “give multiple people the opportunity to tell a Story from multiple, different angles.”
Facebook is certainly making stories a key pivot in its growth story.