By Prab Chadha
We’re not even one month in to 2014 and already, waves are being made in Social Media. Here are the top stories from 2014 so far.
Vine introduces web profiles
January 3rd
For almost a year now, Vine has been exclusive to users of the app, but on January 3rd Vine announced a web version on their blog. You can now log in to Vine on the web to view your home feed, edit your own profile and like, comment on and share your favourite vines. Unfortunately though, the web version doesn’t allow users to upload Vines and is lacking in a search function – much like Instagram’s equivalent online offering – so don’t expect to be discovering much new content. You can log in to your account at Vine.co.
Twitter gets a makeover
January 13th
It was announced this week (via tweet of course) that Twitter.com would be getting a fresh look to mirror that of the Android and iOS apps. Very little has changed in terms of user experience but, as always, the new look was received with mixed reviews. Not everyone is seeing the new design just yet and Twitter have not given a timeline for when it will be implemented for 100% of users.
Tumblr announces @mentions for Users
January 14th
Tumblr users can now directly mention other Tumblr blogs in their posts by using the @symbol we’ve become so familiar with on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Although Tumblr are behind other social networks with this functionality, it was never as necessary to users of the platform because they were able to use text links if they wanted to link to another blog. Tumblr has always been hugely community driven and this seems like a step in the right direction to position Tumblr as a truly Social network of bloggers.
Since Tumblr joined Yahoo in May of 2012, the micro-blogging site has been developing at a great rate and this is just one advancement in what is sure to be a trailblazing year for Tumblr.
Facebook Pages display full images
While there was no official announcement, we thought it was worth mentioning that the way that photos are displayed on Facebook Pages has changed for the better. Before, you had to make sure you uploaded either a perfectly square image (for a regular shared image) or one that was 843×403 pixels (for a highlighted image or milestone) for them to display in full on the page. Recently, this has changed and the whole image is displayed on the page’s timeline. It’s a small change but one that I’m sure will be appreciated by page admins and social media managers all over.
