Social Media Rundown: EU to Regulate Tech Companies, Snapchat Considers Unskippable Ads

Perhaps you’ve been getting lots of emails and other notifications about privacy policy updates or a new terms of service doc to agree to? You can blame new regulation from the European Union for that. More specifically, you can blame Facebook, but none of this seems to be hurting the company’s bottom line.

Animated GIF: Americans Say They Want Privacy, but Act as if They Don’t. — From a 2014 NYT article “Americans Say They Want Privacy, but Act as if They Don’t.”

In other social media news, Snapchat seems to think unskippable six-second ads are a good money-generating option and YouTube has been running ads on extremist channels, unbeknownst to its advertisers.

Finally, be sure to check out the learning section for ideas to improve your social media strategy and a look at the future of social media marketing.

Social Media News:

Will the US Regulate Facebook? Europe is about to do Just That (CNN). The European Union is preparing to enforce a new data protection law that gives consumers more control over how their personal data are used. Ah, so this is why I’ve been getting so many privacy policy and terms of service updates lately.
Facebook Promises in New Ad that Everything’s Going to be OK (Mashable). It’s actually a very excellent ad. How could you not fall in love with Facebook all over again?
YouTube Ran Ads from Hundreds of Brands on Extremist Channels (CNN). Ads from over 300 companies and organizations ran on YouTube channels promoting white nationalists, Nazis, pedophilia, conspiracy theories and North Korean propaganda. Be careful where you place your ads.
Viacom and Snap are Eyeing Snapchat Stars for Shows (Digiday). Unskippable six-second video ads? This could be the true beginning of Snapchat’s demise.

Learn:

6 Effective Elements to Add to Your Social Media Strategy (Social Media Today). Want to stay ahead of the curve? This article suggests adding a Messenger bot, using more video, investing in paid ads, and using Stories on Facebook and Instagram.
10 Ideas Driving the Future of Social Media Marketing (Mark Schaefer via Medium). This list debuted at Social Media Marketing World in March. This is a much better retelling than the simple notes I took. Ideas range from AI and smart speakers to government regulation (see aforementioned news headlines) and challenges of getting through all the content clutter.

Did I get everything? Please let me know if you have something to add.