It’s been a big week for social media updates. You may have noticed polls popping up on Twitter and new options appearing in your Facebook search. And if sitting through another 30 second YouTube ad sounds unbearable, we have some good news for you. Here’s what’s happening in social media this week:
YouTube Red:
Do you ever think about how many minutes of your life you’ve spent watching ads on YouTube? If your guess is “too many” then YouTube has a solution for you – but it comes at a price. YouTube announced last week that they’re rolling out a paid, ad-free service, YouTube Red, that debuted October 28th. Click here to sign up for a free, one month trial. The service is $9.99/month after that.
This change sets up YouTube as a competitor to Spotify and other music streaming services, since YouTube Red also allows users to save videos and songs to their mobile device to watch offline. If you don’t have access to unlimited data and find yourself going over every month, this may come in handy.
Or perhaps you’ve had this thought before:
YouTube heard your memes, and they built this feature into Red as well. YouTube videos can now play in the background while your phone is using other apps or your screen is locked. Impressed yet?
Facebook Search FYI:
If you get your news through social media, your best bet has always been Twitter for the real news, and Facebook for all of your friends’ reactions. Facebook is hoping to change that with Search FYI – an updated search algorithm that allows you to find out more about what’s happening in the world right now.
Search FYI will highlight popular events that are being discussed around the world (sounds a little bit like what’s trending on Twitter, right?) This new search option will also include public posts from outside of your immediate circle, helping you cut through the noise and cat videos to find what you’re looking for. I think this advanced search was a smart move by Facebook, and will help businesses marketing on the social network access more information.
If you don’t want your posts to be included in Search FYI results, make sure your post privacy is set to private. If you want your posts to be visible to a wider network, make them public. If you aren’t sure how to adjust your privacy settings, check out Facebook’s help articles.
Twitter Polls:
Not to be left out in this big week for social media updates, Twitter announced last week that users can now create interactive polls directly in a Tweet, allowing other users to vote anonymously. For real estate professionals, this can be a great way to find out more about your target market, or even just create a fun and engaging poll about what style of kitchen or bathroom your followers like better.
This feature is now available for Twitter on iOS, Android, and desktop. To create a poll, simply go to create a new post, then select the “Add poll” button that looks like a pie chart. You can then ask a question and add your answer choices.
For now, this feature is fairly basic. You can only have two choices, and you can’t add an image to your poll post. I imagine Twitter will expand polls with more options if it becomes more popular.
How do you plan on using these new social media features in your real estate marketing? Leave us a comment below and let us know!