Facebook introduces story feature- Tuesday morning Facebook announced a new Facebook camera feature that allows users to overlay special effects on photos and videos. This new function labeled Facebook Stories, will permit users to post public updates to their feed that will expire after 24 hours. Sound familiar?

What is a “Story”

A story is simply a photo or video you post to your very own ‘stories’ section (or feed) of your account which is visible by you and all your friends. From 2013-2016, the word ‘story’ was synonymous with the social platform Snapchat. During this three year period, Snapchat was the only platform that had a story feature. Additionally, many brands utilize the ‘story’ feature to communicate with consumers. The story feature attracts brands from every industry from Sour Patch Kids to General Electric, and even Soul Cycle. These brands are using Snapchat to connect with customers in an authentic, low-cost, and personal way. Rather than posting traditional ‘polished’ content, the ‘story’ content is often raw and fun. This allows them to showcase their brand personality on a human level.

Facebook Introduces Story Feature

Facebook Strikes Again 

The addition of ‘stories’ speaks to the established strategy of Facebook. With a majority share of users,  Facebook drives growth by keeping those users engaged as much as possible. Facebook Camera product manager Connor Hayes explains, “as people mostly post photos and videos, Stories is the way they’re going to want to do it.”

Facebook’s introduction of ‘stories’ continues to blur the lines between their services, Instagram, and Snapchat. Frequent users visit Facebook for news, Instagram to connect with influencers, and Snapchat for direct messaging. While these ‘services’ may differ, the user-generated content is what brings the three platforms together. With the notable focus shift to smartphones, companies are forced to come up with engaging new features. The future is social and it’s an arms race between the platforms to come up with the next big idea.

Selfies of teenagers with the infamous flower crown filter undoubtedly come to mind when many people think of Snapchat. What doesn’t come to mind as often, however, are the practical applications that Snapchat poses for brands. While it’s easy to write the app off as a silly social media app, it’s actually proven itself to be an effective platform to help brands connect with consumers.

Companies can reach consumers in several different ways via Snapchat. Brands can create their own profile, sponsor filters, or even design a geotag. It’s an excellent way for a brand to let its personality shine through. It’s also highly personalized and engaging. Furthermore, the quirky platform humanizes a brand and can make it more relatable.

Continue reading →

Following Snap Inc.’s IPO last month, Facebook and Snapchat now compete on another level. Both companies rolled out new features this week to their apps to vie for the attention of their users. In a world where social media connects people to their friends, news, and entertainment, social platforms need to keep adding new features to stay alive. Continue reading →

As young working professionals, we are always trying to perfect our writing. Whether it be writing a blog, sending that important email or writing a proposal. With the writing enhancement software, Grammarly, we can stop worrying about grammar, spelling, punctuation errors and much more. This app will become your best friend! Continue reading →

Interested in how to choose the best live video platform for your marketing strategy? With these tips you’ll learn how to provide your audience with real time experiences and always choose the most beneficial, live platform! Continue reading →

Advertisers left the leading search engine this week. Google now faces major retaliation because of recent issues with advertisements on its sites. Carefully crafted ads are being linked with violent and inappropriate content on YouTube videos. Companies spend a lot of time and conduct extensive research to decide what ads to put on specific platforms. When that content is associated with something controversial like racism or terrorism, companies are bound to take notice. Continue reading →

It’s Friday night and you’re eating out with friends. The waiter sets a picture-perfect plate of pasta in front of you. It’s drool-worthy and definitely needs to be posted to your “food-stagram” ASAP. But, when you snap a picture of your plate, it doesn’t look nearly as good as it does in real life. You wonder how to achieve that professional food photo that’s worthy enough to Instagam.

Our social media feeds are flooded with so-called “food porn.” However, the camera doesn’t always do our meals justice. If you’ve ever wondered how to make your food look as appetizing as it tastes, look no farther. Here are a few tips to help you take professional food photos.

Continue reading →

Round Up and Donate

Lyft introduces a new charitable feature: Round Up & Donate.The San Francisco-based company will soon allow passengers to round-up their fares to the nearest dollar and give the difference to charity. Although users do not get to choose a specific charity, they can choose from a variety of causes. As of now, the various cause are the environment, veterans, and LGBT equality.  Continue reading →

It happens too often. We are trying to work out, get ready, answer emails and have a bite to eat before we are out the door for the day. Then we find ourselves sitting at the conference table at work not knowing what is going on in the news. But who has time to navigate the Internet during the usual crazy mornings? No one. What young working professionals need is a free news app where we can look at it and get the top stories when we only have a few seconds to spare. Ladies and gentleman, Circa. Continue reading →

Time is our most valuable commodity and one that we seem to never have enough of. We can, however, save a little extra time if we increase our productivity and efficiency. Small improvements to our daily routines can save a great deal of time. Luckily there are plenty of time-saving apps that can help.  Continue reading →

YouTube TV:

YouTube is cutting the cord. On Tuesday, February 28^th, the company announced their new on-demand streaming site: YouTube TV. Although there has been a clear departure from traditional cable, this offer suits the modern consumer. YouTubeTV is offered at $35/month, so it is extremely affordable.

Continue reading →

Each time you get on the Internet you immediately lose privacy. Luckily, all web browsers allow a number of different ad blocker extensions that have been created to help with this problem. An ad blocker is a software that, as its name implies, prevents advertisements and third-party scripts and widgets from popping up on a page. Ad blockers are to protect privacy, protect your computer from malware, save bandwidth and provide a better user experience, which is why they have become more widely used. Among the tons of ad blockers being used, there are some that stand out more than other. There are two ad blockers that people rely on and those are Adblock Plus and uBlock Origin. Below I will explain both of the ad blockers and what, specifically, they do.

Continue reading →