social media round up
Social Media Round Up – Insta-Shopping And Some Obama Love
We previously reported on the rumour that Snapchat had released a range of glasses – Spectacles – which include a tiny camera enabling those who wear them to post to the app directly with the footage syncing automatically. After months of speculation, the rumour was finally confirmed as Snapchat opened a pop-up store in New York this week. Hundreds of New Yorkers formed a queue outside of the yellow store with the hopes of grabbing a pair of Snapchat Spectacles. But unlike any other store, the Spectacles shop has almost nothing inside, apart from a few rotating flat screen TVs showcasing 360 degree videos filmed by the Spectacles and the ‘Snap bot’, a robotic vending machine dispensing limited quantities of the Spectacles. As a result, people queued for hours to visit the bot one-by-one to purchase the new ‘it’ product, many purchasing two at a time. Before we start, forgive us for the upcoming outpouring of emotion. Regrettably preparing for having to hand over the presidential baton, this week our social media feeds were filled with viral videos of the wonderful man that is Barack Obama. Whether he’s pardoning turkeys for thanksgiving and telling dad jokes, or meeting an adorable boy who asked him to help bring a Syrian refugee to live with him and his family, one thing’s for sure, Obama is awesome. By far the most shared clip over the past few days was of his speech as he presented comedian and voice of Pixar’s Dory, Ellen Degeneres with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. There wasn’t a dry eye in the White House as Obama gave a moving speech commending the strength and courage Degeneres demonstrated when she came out 20 years ago. The heart-warming video shows the president getting choked up and Ellen getting rather emotional herself. We defy you to watch it without welling up too! Obama, we ❤ you! Following in the footsteps of Facebook, which owns Instagram, YouTube and Twitter’s live-streaming app Periscope, Instagram has released a new feature that allows its users to broadcast live at any time. Watchers can comment and react with emoji’s that pop up on the screen in real time. Those planning on investing time into their videos should be warned that as soon as you finish the broadcast, it will disappear forever… In other Instagram news, the photo sharing app this month invited 20 well-known US retail brands to trial a new feature it is testing. The new feature allows brands to tag items of clothing on photos and then offer the user more information on the item before asking them if they want to go purchase the clothing – taking them to the retailers’ website. Many brands are looking forward to the feature being rolled out; however there has been no confirmation as to whether it will become available in the UK. If the feature goes live, it could expand to allow users to buy other items including accessories, household items and holidays just from tapping on an Instagram photo.SNAPCHAT SPECTACLES_
AN ODE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA_
DISAPPEARING VIDEOS_
SHOPPING THROUGH INSTAGRAM_
