Longer tweets have finally left their limited testing phase and are available to their broader user base. Meanwhile, Messenger is rolling out a new feature of its own in a limited release: peer-to-peer payments via PayPal. Read on for these social media updates, as well info on some recently released website management tools.
Longer Tweets
The expanded 280-character limit on Tweets has left closed testing and is now available to all users except those using Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages. In a series of blog posts, the Twitter developers have explained the data and reasoning behind the general expansion of the tweet character limit.
The short version is that it’s to minimize the number of tweets (around 9% previously) that hit the character limit, which hinted at how often users would have to either meticulously tweak their tweets or chain them together to get their message across. The tests have shown that the new limit reduces such incidents, promotes better engagement and, to appease the critics, has not much affected the typical brevity of tweets—only 5% of tweets from accounts in the experiment breached 140 characters; only 2% passed 190.
Twitter also increased the allowable length for usernames from 20 characters to 50.
Starting today, your Twitter display name can be up to 50 characters in length! Go ahead, add that middle name or even a few more emojis. https://t.co/QBxx9Hnn1j
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 10, 2017
Messenger P2P Payment is Here
Messenger and PayPal have joined forces to enable peer-to-peer payments on the messaging app. According to a blog post published October 20, users “will have the option to send and request money using their PayPal account, and this integration in Messenger is starting to roll out to U.S. consumers today.” On November 7, Facebook announced that they were expanding the service to include France and the UK.
This is a step forward in making Facebook Messenger even more of a digital multi-tool than it already is, but remains a few steps behind Tencent’s WeChat (Weixin in China). With Messenger’s reach in the USA, France and the UK, however, it will be interesting to see how things play out.
Throw Out the Manual: WP Automatic Updates
ManageWP has introduced a new function, Automatic Updates, which allows site owners and administrators to streamline and schedule updates on the sites they manage with the platform. One highlight is that the feature can select lulls in traffic and use those to perform the updates, minimizing disruptions for users.
The scheduling tool works with individual websites and across multiple websites (with the help of global settings). It also allows admins to decide who among their clients and collaborators gets notified when updates are performed.
Spot Algorithm Updates in Real Time
CognitiveSEO has released a new tool, called Signals, which allows users to monitor sudden shifts in search results. By monitoring search fluctuations in real time, users can respond faster in the short-term and, in the long run, “gain a better understanding of the ways and directions search engines are moving into.”
The tool allows users to customize the data that’s monitored and the way it’s presented. The granular data can be broken down up to hourly intervals, while an “algorithm change score” allows the overall changes to be tracked by severity more easily. Users can also get notifications sent directly to their inbox, allowing for monitoring on-the-go.
To keep up with the latest updates in digital marketing, subscribe to our blog.
Comments