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June 12 2020 Newsletter
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It has been a tough few weeks. I've witnessed social media professionals — both inside WGBH and in the media industry in general — struggle to understand the most appropriate and constructive role of their own platforms in addressing the issue of systemic racism in our country. Conversations with social media managers, producers and editors over the past few weeks have tackled issues including:
  • Leadership vs. performance on social media
  • Community guidelines and moderation policies
  • The choice between "pausing" versus contributing
  • Creating equity on your social platforms, from those you choose to follow and what content you choose to amplify
  • Emotional tolls of social media management and proper self-care

... and much more. As we each figure out our own role in this change, and the role of the accounts we manage, I ask that we all continue to share what we're learning with each other.

Internally at WGBH, that can happen on the Social Media Slack Channel. Within public media, there are Facebook Groups that can and should be safe spaces for these conversations: the PBS Social Hub and NPR Station Social would be places to start. And to the wider media and journalism world, I've found Gather to be a wonderful resource for open and safe debates and conversations on the subjects of community management and audience development.
If you have other suggestions for collaborative spaces for social media professionals, let me know and I'll include those in future newsletters.

Research & Reports
  • Last Wednesday was the biggest day in Twitter's history, with 677,000 downloads globally. It also set a record for daily active users on Twitter in the U.S. that day, with 40 million.
  • A new eMarketer report on US social media usage concludes that as many as half of US adults are spending more time on social media during the pandemic. The results caused eMarketer to revise their forecast for time spent on social media in 2020 upward. (See chart, below)
  • A new eMarketer report on digital video trends found that during quarantine, people are spending a record amount of time watching TV and digital video; and in 2020, US adults will watch an estimated 2 hours, 1 minute of digital video a day (up 19% from 2019).
  • What do people want from brands during this period of protests? A new survey of Americans who support Black Lives Matter indicate that 58% want brands to encourage people to vote, 48% want brands to review their own corporate diversity and 36% say brands should donate to relevant causes.
  • Podcast recommendation: eMarketer does a deep dive into TikTok’s “growth spurt” during the pandemic, and how in the past few weeks the platform has turned from a place of levity and creativity to a place to express sadness, anger and outrage.
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Platform Updates
  • Facebook News launched to all US users on Tuesday. The new tab displays a mix of curated news items and algorithmic personalized selections; stories are included only from publishers who meet certain integrity standards related to misinformation and clickbait. Facebook says most of its News publishers are local news outlets. (Bonus: Analysis from Nieman Lab)
  • Facebook's new Comment Engagement Stats give Page admins more insights into users' engagement with your content, such as how a user's comments have increased user engagement (change in reactions, post impressions).
  • Twitter is testing a feature (Android only) that prompts you to read an article before retweeting it.
  • Facebook launched "Venue," a new app for engaging fans around live events. The new app directly takes on Twitter as the “second screen” for live events, with a differentiation of curation from personalities, journalists and celebrities.
  • Hulu launched a "Watch Party" feature, which allows subscribers to enter a group chat room and then stream a show or movie together.
  • Google is testing displaying web pages in YouTube search results.
  • Instagram has started testing ads on creators' IGTV videos (with a 55% revenue split), but Digiday reports those ad options won’t be available for media companies until 2021.
  • YouTube launched an integrated channel chart within the Creator Studio that combines display, subscriber count, watch time and revenue performance analytics on an individual screen.
  • Instagram is testing a new format for recommended content listings below the "All Caught Up" marker, with options to see either "suggested" and "older" posts.
  • Snapchat redesigned its app, with new navigation that lets you access Snap Map and Snap Originals from anywhere; and news aggregation in the Discover tab that compiles local, world, sports and politics coverage from partners including The Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reuters, NBC News, ESPN, NowThis, E! News and BuzzFeed News.
 

Social Media Headlines
 

Announcements
  • Award Deadline: The Shorty Social Good Awards are now open for entries. This branch of the Shorty Awards honors the work that nonprofits, brands, and agencies are doing in social media to make a positive impact on society. Deadline is June 24.
  • Policy Change: Instagram has stated for the first time that you now have to ask for a license to the Instagram images you embed on your website. Before, it was generally believed that using Instagram’s embed codes would insulate media organizations from copyright concerns; but two recent lawsuits might mean this will change. While this is clarified in the courts, the best route is for you to ask photographers or users for permission before embedding their work or content on your website.
  • Webinar: "How U.S. Newsrooms Are Covering the Protests and Black Lives Matter Movement on Social Media." CrowdTangle will share audience engagement tips and posting trends for how newsrooms in the U.S. are using social media for coverage of the racial justice news cycle, Black Lives Matter movement and protests happening across the country. RSVP: Tuesday, June 16th 12:30pm ET.
 

WGBH Highlights
  • FRONTLINE's "A Class Divided" continues to resonate on social media. A link to the full film on YouTube were top performing posts across Facebook and Twitter this week.
  • Arthur helps parents talk to their kids about civic engagement by resurfacing their episode "Arthur Takes a Stand" with special guest Rep. John Lewis.
  • On Facebook, American Experience celebrated the birthday of Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African American to win an Academy Award. On Instagram, the series profiled Fannie Lou Hamer on the anniversary of her arrest after sitting at a whites-only lunch counter in Mississippi.
  • Basic Black's episode on race relations in the wake of George Floyd's death ran on Facebook and Twitter, and incorporated questions from those watching on social platforms.
  • The World heard from young reporters about reporting about the Latino vote during the pandemic, in a Facebook Live moderated by Senior Editor Daisy Contreras.
  • WGBH produced the "Massachusetts Commencement 2020" for the state's graduating high school students, with a robust social media campaign including Facebook Frames, Instagram Story Backgrounds and GIPHY Stickers. The premiere was multi-platform, too — in addition to WGBH-2 and WGBY, the episode simulcast to WGBH's Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and was even available via IGTV. Kudos from actors, musicians and athletes with Massachusetts roots (as well as a special virtual performance from the Boston Pops) sang on social, especially on YouTube and Instagram Stories.
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Public Media Highlight
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee PBS used Facebook to create a space for listening and discussion on Milwaukee's north side. "Listen MKE Live" is a Facebook Live series that focuses on issues in Milwaukee’s Black communities; an edited version of the livestream airs on Milwaukee PBS.
 

Accessibility + Social Media
This week, WGBH's "Social Media LunchUp" featured WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) Senior Director Donna Danielewski and Accessibility Analyst Claire Houston, who provided tips for making our work on social media accessible to those with disabilities. Among NCAM's tips:
  • Simple Language: Use simple language and shorter sentences. Use sentence case instead of all capital letters to make it easier for people with cognitive and learning disabilities to read.
  • Hashtags: Capitalize the first letter of each word when you use hashtags. For example, use #BestFriendForever instead of #bestfriendforever.
  • Emojis: Avoid creating emoticons using text (such as ¯_(ツ)_/¯ ). These are hard for many people to read or understand, and screen readers for the blind have difficulty describing their meaning. Instead use emojis, the small pictures used to convey emotions and ideas, such as 😃 🔥 💜.

NCAM's presentation was based on new resources from Facebook Accessibility. For a full list of tips, check out Facebook's (Accessible!) infographic for how to create more accessible social media on Facebook or Instagram.
 

Bonus: Social TV
Below is an excerpt from our Emerging Platforms team's monthly newsletter, which offers both project updates and news from the world of original video content on digital and social platforms.
If you'd like to receive the monthly Emerging Platforms newsletter, let me know.
 

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