Social Media World: A Weekly Round-Up

While WhatsApp paid heed to user feedback and promised to bring back the good old text status, Snapchat introduced a new Bitmoji widget for quicker access to messaging. Here’s a glimpse of what your favourite social media platforms were upto the last week.

WhatsApp brings back ‘text’ status: WhatsApp announced that it is bringing back the text status feature. Users can open the About section of their profile to set a text status, and view the status updates of their contacts by visiting their profile. Read more here.

Snapchat launches Bitmoji widget chat shortcuts: Snapchat rolled out a new widget to its iOS and Android applications that allows users to instantly start chatting with a Snapchat friend by simply tapping on their Bitmoji. The move comes as Snapchat puts an increased focus on private messaging. On iOS, the widget is accessible from the “Today” view on the lock screen, home screen and in notification center, while on Android it’s a home screen widget. To know how to get the widget on your device, read here.

Facebook introduces Town Hall: Facebook just made finding a government representative easy with ‘Town Hall’. This exclusive feature aims to let users easily get in touch with government representatives on local and state levels. The feature can be found under the 'More' tab. Once the user fills in the address, the app would show a list of government representatives based on the user's location that the user can follow. There is also a 'Contact' button besides the representative’s name. When tapped, users get the option to Message or Email them, or visit their Facebook page. At the bottom of the Town Hall page you can toggle on/off notification alerts about the upcoming elections in your area. Read more about the feature here.

The social giant also engaged in various collaborations last week. While Flipkart collaborated with Facebook to ensure that users of their apps and websites have good experience even on slower networks or low-cost smartphones; Amazon collaborated with Facebook to sell look-alike runway AIFWAW17 merchandise in real time. Looks like Facebook is the new ‘go-to-place’ for everything now!

What do you think about these developments? Share your thoughts in the comment box.