Daily Minute Master Series – November 11, 2019

Social Media

Instagram Will Begin Hiding Total Like Counts for US Users from Next Week

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri announced that the platform will be extending its test of hiding total like counts to users in the US. Instagram’s hidden like counts test has sparked much debate in the social media industry, with some seeing it as a major win for platform health, and others questioning the impacts it will have on engagement, influencer marketing, etc. While the test has been active for some five months, we still don’t have any data from Instagram as to how platform usage has or hasn’t changed as a result, nor do we have any insight as to what the platform is looking as a measure of success for the now expanding test. The fact that Instagram is expanding the test to American users would suggest that it is generating results, but what those results are exactly, and what their extended impacts will be, we don’t know as yet.

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Twitter’s Testing a New Option Which Would Enable You to Switch Accounts in Tweet Replies

Twitter is testing out a new option which would enable you to switch accounts within the tweet reply process, making it easier to manage multiple account interactions on the go. Some users have noted that the functionality has been available to them for some time, while others are not seeing it. We don’t have any word on who, exactly, has access to the reply switching option at this stage. But what’s interesting about that is that Twitter has been looking to add various TweetDeck-only features into the main app in recent times. Just last month it was reported that Twitter has been testing out advanced search filters based on engagement into the main app, which is already possible through TweetDeck. By adding more advanced tools into the main app, Twitter could improve its overall functionality, which could provide a significant boost for social media managers who are looking to action things on the go. 

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Facebook Launches Military and Veterans Hub to Improve Digital Skills for Those Who Serve

Facebook has launched a new resource hub to help military members and veterans in improving digital literacy, and expanding their opportunities. Called the ‘Military and Veterans Hub’, the new mini-site will help those who serve to find job opportunities, enhance their digital skills, and provide online safety tips to improve their digital understanding. The mini-site aims to further Facebook’s connection with the military community – according to Facebook, more than 900,000 people in the US participate in more than 2,000 groups for military members, veterans and their spouses on Facebook. Facebook’s also looking to help military veterans expand their career opportunities, and translate their skills, with a new a 12-month career development pilot program focused on AR/VR for veterans with backgrounds in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or Computer Science. The announcement coincides with Veteran’s Day, and as noted, seeks to solidify the role that Facebook plays in connecting these groups.

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Marketing

Google’s John Mueller On Blocking Robots.txt Files From Being Indexed

Google’s John Mueller recently provided some advice on how to block robots.txt and sitemap files from being indexed in search results. Mueller said the x-robots-tag HTTP header can be used to block indexing of robots.txt or sitemap files. If you’re running into the problem where your robots.txt file is ranking in search results, blocking it using the x-robots-tag HTTP header is a good short-term solution. But if that’s happening then there are likely much larger issues to take care of in the long-term, as Mueller suggests.

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