Teens on Facebook Can Now Post Publicly

Before, teens with Facebook accounts could only share content with friends, friends of friends and specific custom groups. As of Wednesday, teens 13-17 years old will be able to post publicly and gain 'followers' on their profiles, just as anyone over 18 years old has the ability to do so.

Facebook recently blogged saying, "Teens are among the savviest people using of social media, and whether it comes to civic engagement, activism, or their thoughts on a new movie, they want to be heard. While only a small fraction of teens using Facebook might choose to post publicly, this update now gives them the choice to share more broadly, just like on other social media services."

To post publicly, teens will need to manually change their audience preferences on each post to 'public' before sharing. Note that the platform's audience settings will remain the same for all posts for all users, including the newly added teens. Having said that, a secondary reminder will pop up for teens after they choose to post publicly a following time.

Although we agree that younger generations are incredibly tech-savvy, we are curious to see how the recent changes will impact the current Facebook base. Teens naturally gravitate toward social platforms, but with the increase of the ability to share, will this simply add more noise to our already full newsfeeds, or will it simply mean that our community is better connected?

Tellus: How do you think this new freedom for teens will impact Facebook?

-- Samantha

Where Sports Fans Engage on Social Media

Big sports fan? Ever talk about the game on FB or Twitter? You're certainly not alone.

Catalyst's annual fan engagement study studies sports fans to better determine where they play on social media -- and where marketers can better reach them! In Catalyst's recent study, the team surveyed 2,100 sports fans (16 and 64 years old) who follow the NFL, NBA, MLB, college football, college basketball and soccer.

A few top points are highlighted below, but check out the full infographic below

• Surprisingly, only 57% of fans surveyed "liked" a brand/sport team page to show their support -- versus 61% who "liked" a page for a coupon or discount.
• Although more fans are on Facebook in general, Twitter is the most popular platform on a game day.
• Post game, Instagram rises in popularity, when fans are most likely sharing images from the game or viewing party.

-- Samantha

Social Media Profile Photo Sizes

Customizing social profiles is important for any brand! Profile photos represent your company within the social space and should be clean, bold and consistent across all platforms. Read on to find out more information on specific profile photo sizing, so you can make the most of your social profiles and learn the tips to best optimize your content!

Facebook: 

Profile photos on this popular social platform are square (minimum of 180 x 180 pixels), so it'd be in your best interest to use an image with these dimensions or upload an image that is large enough that when cropped, will include the most important information, logo, etc.

When it comes to cover photos, choose wisely. This is a larger image than the profile photo, so it will be the first thing that a user sees when they visit your page. Although the minimum measurement is 399 x 150 pixels, your cover photos should be 851 x 315 pixels. Note that smaller images will stretch and as a result, will look pixilated and low-resolution.

To make sure that important information in your cover photo isn't covered by your profile photo, note that your profile image is 23 pixels from the left side and 210 pixels from the top of your cover photo. Try uploading a JPG file that less than 100KB for best results. If your picture includes a logo and/or text, use a PNG file.

Twitter:

Similar to Facebook, profile photos on Twitter are square -- but much smaller, which means that you will need to choose a clearer, bolder picture. Although the main profile photo displays as 73 x 73 pixels on your profile on Twitter.com (and a tiny 48 x 48 pixels in a tweet), you can upload an image as large as 2MB (but will need to crop accordingly).

The header image should be 1252 x 626 pixels, up to 5MB. This photo will show up behind your profile photo, but don't forget that your Twitter handle, bio information and URL will show over the image. As a result, we suggest choosing an image that won't take away from the text in the forefront!

YouTube:

FYI: The YouTube channel icon or profile photo is directly linked to your Google+ profile photo. Having said this, if you don't have a Google+ account, you can still fully optimize your channel with custom images and various downloadable templates.

The "channel art" or cover photo will automatically scale to fit the size of the screen that it is being displayed on. Try an image with dimensions of 2560 x 1440 pixels for the best results. Note that the smallest size for "channel art" is 1546 x 423 pixels. As a result, make sure that nothing important (logos, etc.) are in this area so they won't be cropped unintentionally.

Have more questions? Just ask! 

-- Samantha

Facebook Delivers Key Data to TV Networks

The relationship between television and social media has become more relevant -- and more important. Networks and specific TV shows are consistently pushing personal handles and hashtags to encourage engagement with their content. Some even launch fun contests and entice viewers to submit their own UGC (user generated content) through carefully thought-out integrations or during commercial breaks.

But how does one go about measuring the actual content being generated on social media and its direct impact as a result of television show, advertising and more?

Earlier this month, Facebook joined Twitter in the real-time news space as they announced that a select few news organizations, like CNN and Buzzfeed, would be allowed access to real-time public posts for an exact keyword and reports of the gender, age and location of those users engaging.

Most recently, Facebook began sending weekly metrics to four large TV networks, including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, as well as a few "select partners" according to The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog. Specifically speaking, the reports will stay private but will divulge in actions that take place on social media platforms during TV episodes (likes, comments and shares). On top of this, numbers will be calculated relating to how many Facebook users were behind such actions. Having these numbers will help networks get a better understand of what content is working with viewers and what is not, thus developing more highly integrated digital marketing strategies into the overall plan.

Although Facebook's new APIs are somewhat limited, experts believe that it will demonstrate how this social media giant is trying to set itself apart from its rival, Twitter, by placing more of an importance on its large fan base.

Daniel Slotwiner, the lead of Facebook’s measurement team says, “The conversation is being generated by a group that is much more representative of the general population– that means we should have a better signal as it relates to ratings."

TELL US: Do you tweet or comment during your favorite TV shows?

FOLLOW UP: Do you think data provided by Facebook will actually help TV networks?

-- Samantha

Social Trend: Brands Increase Use of User-Generated Content

It's no secret that fans on social media engage more with content that's generated from friends or family. It's only natural to have an interest in those people who mean the most to you. This is why social sites like Facebook and Twitter have algorithms to tailor your Newsfeed with content from friends who you interact with the most, in hopes that you will be prompted to like, share, tweet, etc. on a more consistent basis. Now, this more approachable and relatable type of content is allowing brands take a big step in how they sell and advertise to the world. Instead of glossy, high-fashion shots, many brands and advertisers are aggregating user-generated images to push product awareness and overall brand loyalty.

When working on Herbal Essences, I came up with the strategy of incorporating more Instagrammed imagery onto our Facebook and Twitter pages to better relate to our young, female customer base. By using photos that looked like one our own fan would create, we were able to successfully insert the brand into a conversation that was already taking place within the social space. As a result, we saw an immediate increase in engagement.

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Companies like Urban Outfitters plan to push the envelope further by including UGC (user-generated content) on their product pages to create an even fuller shopping experience. As quoted from AdWeek, “Social-generated images are creeping up on all of our marketing channels. That’s where our customers are," said Moira Gregonis, senior marketing manager at Urban Outfitters.

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Additional large retailers, including Dannijo and NastyGal, are also adding Instagrammed shots from consumers to their websites in hopes of increasing sales. “The user-generated content we pull [with the software] increases conversion rates,” said Mary Mentz, e-commerce strategist for Dannijo. “Our customers are six times more likely to purchase with [the social pictures] on our product pages.”

Although some brands wonder what they are truly getting back from highlighting fan photos, only time will tell. As for now, it's clear that they are driving more social engagement, simply because this new (and free) content is more approachable and relatable to "real" people. Just as user testimonials help a customer down the purchase funnel, so will these highly visual images of real people in actual product!

How do you feel about brands using YOUR images to sell products?

-- Samantha

Facebook to Add Shared Photo Albums

In the latest & greatest updates on social media, Facebook has announced that they will be adding a brand new feature to their site. Shared photo albums will be in incorporated into the already photo-friendly social platform on Monday, which will let multiple Facebook users to add photos to the same album. Unlike before when fans could only add pics to albums they created, the new shared photo albums will be able to ask others (up to 50 fans) to add images to a single shared album.

With new privacy and editing settings, Facebook hopes that creating sharable albums will be easier for the user. Now, fans will be able to create albums for events like birthday parties, weddings and vacations, where photos from multiple sources can be added together to form more compelling collections of stories.

Although this new feature will continue to evolve over the next few months including increasing the photo limits and extended mobile abilities, we can't wait to experience this highly collaborative way to share experiences with friends and family. In addition, we're excited to see how this roll-out will impact businesses to better showcase events, product launches and more!

How do you plan on using a shared photo album on Facebook?

-- Samantha & Mike

Why People Overshare Online

We all have the friends on Facebook or Twitter who overshare the details of their lives with the rest of the internet. They're the type of people who consistently update statuses and feel the need to share every detail of their lives -- from what they last ate for lunch to their opinion of their favorite TV show. Although it's certainly their right, what makes it so easy to overshare on social media platforms?

Author and social scientist, Sherry Turkle, believes after one shares feelings or thoughts in a public space, the brain's neurochemical reward system is automatically triggered. This action, in addition to the idea that our private lives are constantly being infiltrated by reality TV and social media, adds to an innate urge to share.

In the most recent paper by Russell W. Belk titled "Extended Self in a Digital World," he argues that people's relationships with social media sites are ultimately allowing us to create a more complicated concept of who we believe we are as individuals. With the addition of various platforms that let us be creative through status updates, highly-edited pictures and funny videos, Belk says that humans are able to create a unique, desired identity in a space that makes us feel 'invisible.' Consequently, when individuals believe no one is listening or watching behind a screen, they gain more confidence to divulge personal details about their lives that wouldn't typically be shared in normal day to day life.

Overall, it's clear that the line between private and public is quickly disappearing with each status, tweet and Instagrammed photo. People want to be interesting, popular and cool. They want to be heard and respected -- and will often give up such self-respect to feel valued by their peers. But how far is too far? And how much worse will it get as our world continues to highlight reality stardom and materialistic values?

Tell us: How much do you share via social media? 

-- Samantha