This document provides a summary of the latest social media trends and innovations from The Social Digest. It discusses new capabilities on Snapchat like face filters and augmented reality shopping. It also mentions new features on Facebook like QR codes for pages and reports on key discussion trends. Additionally, it notes growth in users and time spent on Reddit as well as continued steady usage of Facebook despite privacy issues.

1. THE SOCIAL DIGEST
By Gravity Thinking
#25

2. We like to keep a razor-sharp focus on the digital and
social trends, conversations and people that matter to
our audiences. Our social round-up curates the most
essential news that brands need to be aware of.
Read on for the headlines that matter most.
EDITION #25
THE ONLY SOCIAL TRENDS &
INNOVATIONS ROUND-UP
YOU NEED
2

3. Snapchat is le/ng creators build face filters. Snap is releasing seven new
templates into Lens Studio, allowing creators to build digital masks, which
range in complexity. ABer uploading their face filter, the company generates
a Snapcode and deep link that, when tapped, opens it within Snapchat for 24
hours, with the code remaining live for a year aBer its creaDon, meaning it
can be unlocked mulDple Dmes. The code can be sent to friends, whether
you created it yourself or received it from someone else.
YOU CAN NOW BUILD YOUR OWN FACE FILTER
FOR SNAPCHAT
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/17/17245008/snapchat-face-filter-creation-lens-studio-giphy-discover
ACTION: THIS OPTION OPENS UP NEW CAPABILITIES FOR YOUR
BRAND, AS 1/3 OF ALL U.S. SMARTPHONE USERS ENGAGE WITH
AUGMENTED REALITY TOOLS AT LEAST ONCE PER MONTH. CONSIDER
HOW YOU CAN START TO INCORPORATE IT INTO YOUR SNAPCHAT
STRATEGY.

4. Facebook is offering a new QR code opDon for Pages, including posters you
can use to promote your account. This enables Page managers to create a
range of scannable QR images for their Page through various formats. There
are also opDons to choose a code which automaDcally likes the Page on the
users’ behalf, check into your business locaDon, connect to a
recommendaDon screen for the Page, connect to your ‘View Offers’ lisDng,
or connect to a review Page.
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-adds-new-qr-code-option-for-pages/521572/
ACTION: CONSIDER LINKING YOUR BRAND’S ONLINE AD EFFORTS
WITH OFFLINE RESULTS THROUGH QR CODE UTILISATION.
FACEBOOK ADDS NEW QR CODE OPTION FOR
PAGES

5. Snapchat has announced plans to combine AR with e-commerce inside the
app. Users will now be able to buy products via ‘Shoppable AR’. This lets
adverDsers add a buQon onto any AR lenses they are running on Snap, with
the ability to complete a number of acDons, such as direcDng users to
retailers’ online stores or apps where they can purchase the products, all in
one click.
SNAPCHAT HAS LAUNCHED IN-APP AR
SHOPPING
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/04/18/snapchat-has-launched-app-ar-shopping-with-adidas-and-coty-among-the-first-sellers
ACTION: CONSIDER THE NEW E-COMMERCE CAPABILITIES YOUR
BRAND COULD LEVERAGE WITHIN SNAP’S DEMOGRAPHIC, CREATING
SALES, DOWNLOADS, LEAD GENERATION, OR VIDEO VIEWS, AND
SEAMLESSLY DRIVING CONSUMERS TO COMMERCE.

6. Facebook has released a latest ‘Topics to Watch’ report, glossing over the
key issues and subjects that are seeing a significant increase in menDon
volume across Facebook. This determines which terms and subjects are
rising in discussion rates. Up to 80% of previous topics idenDfied have gone
on to become more significant movements.
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-releases-topics-to-watch-report-for-march-highlighting-key-tren/521462/
ACTION: ENSURE YOU USE THESE TRENDS TO BETTER INFORM
YOUR CONTENT APPROACH BY TAPPING INTO TRENDS BEFORE
THEY GET BIGGER - IF ANY OF THESE TOPICS APPLY TO YOUR
BRAND, CONSIDER CREATING SOME RELATED CONTENT.
FACEBOOK RELEASES ‘TOPICS TO WATCH’
REPORT FOR MARCH, HIGHLIGHTING KEY
TRENDS

7. Over the past few months, the number of people using Reddit has
surged, and now the plaWorm reports as many acDve users as TwiQer.
Monthly acDve users have jumped from 150 million in November 2017
to 330 million by early April 2018, increasing by more than 30% in less
than 6 months. And what’s more, the average user spends 15 minutes
47 seconds on Reddit each day, compared to just over 11 minutes for
visitors to Facebook, and 6 minutes 23 seconds on TwiQer.
REDDIT NOW HAS MORE ACTIVE USERS
THAN TWITTER
https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2018/04/19/reddit-now-active-users-twitter-engaging-porn/
ACTION: WITH REDDIT’S RECENT SURGE IN GROWTH, IT’S TIME
TO START CONSIDERING HOW YOUR BRAND CAN UTILISE THE
PLATFORM AND TAP INTO THIS ENGAGED AUDIENCE.

8. ABer news of Cambridge AnalyDca’s data misuse broke and the
#deletefacebook movement began, Facebook have not seen wild changes
in behaviour, with the majority of users yet to update their privacy se/ngs,
and adverDser acDvity remaining steady.
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-usage-rates-remain-stable-after-cambridge-analytica/521575/
ACTION: ENSURE YOUR BRAND DOES NOT DITCH THIS SOCIAL
PLATFORM IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT DATA NEWS, AS YOU CAN
EXPECT TO SEE SIMILAR SUCCESS TO BEFORE.
FACEBOOK USAGE RATES REMAIN STABLE AFTER
CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA

9. ABer removing any images, GIFs, videos, audio files, audio recordings or
documents from the internal storage of your smartphone, WhatsApp will
allow you to re-download them again from its servers. Previously, Android
users could download data up to 30 days old, but it would then disappear
once the recipient downloaded the file. This has lead to immediate privacy
implicaDon quesDons, but there will be no changes when it comes to end-to-
end encrypDon of the media messages.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/whatsapp-now-allows-download-accidentally-051405392.html
ACTION: ENSURE THAT YOUR BUSINESS HANDLES ALL MESSAGES
RECEIVED BY CONSUMERS IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL PRIVACY
POLICIES AND BE READY FOR QUESTIONS ON HOW YOU HANDLE
THIS.
WHATSAPP NOW ALLOWS YOU TO RE-
DOWNLOAD ACCIDENTALLY DELETED PHOTOS
AND VIDEOS ON ANDROID

10. @Copyright Gravity Thinking
www.gravitythinking.com
Emerson Studios,
4-8 Emerson Street,
London. SE1 9DU
0203 141 7700
WE ARE AN AWARD-WINNING, INDEPENDENT CREATIVE AGENCY WITH
STRATEGY AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO.
We create ideas that are designed for where audiences are: social. This means that we take a social-up rather
than advertising-down approach. It’s why we used online trolling to launch a new car brand, turned Twitter
complaints into gin chat and made the school run into a Facebook mini-series.