March 2019 – Wheeler Blogs.

The big news this week is Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of a ‘privacy-focused vision’ for Facebook in which he proclaims private messaging is the future. This fits well with the news back in January of Facebook’s plan to make Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all work in harmony. It also shines some light on the continued decline in Facebook Page engagement and the fact that more young people are leaving Facebook for other services like Snapchat and Instagram (see the ‘Chart of the Week’ below).

Social Media News:

Mark Zuckerberg Believes Facebook’s Future Is Private Messaging (Recode). “I expect future versions of Messenger and WhatsApp to become the main ways people communicate on the Facebook network.” —Mark Zuckerberg. Here’s Mark’s full statement.
Instagram Is an Engagement Powerhouse (Axios). Despite having less than half of Facebook’s monthly active users (MAUs), Instagram’s top 10 accounts generate 6 times more interactions than Facebook’s most-engaged accounts. It’s worth clicking through to the article to see the included table listing the incredible engagement stats from Instagram as compared to Facebook and Twitter. The top Instagram account had more than 1 billion interactions in the 3-month period.
Mark Zuckerberg Tried Hard to Get Facebook into China. Now the Company May Be Backing Away (BuzzFeed News). After 10 years of courting Chinese officials to hopefully get Facebook’s China ban lifted, Zuckerberg has thrown in the towel. “As we build our infrastructure around the world, we’ve chosen not to build data centers in countries that have a track record of violating human rights like privacy or freedom of expression,” Zuckerberg wrote on Wednesday.
Twitter Will Let Users Be Much More Specific When Reporting Tweets with Personal Information (The Verge). “Now, when reporting a tweet that contains private information, users will be taken to an additional menu allowing them to specify whether the tweet contains contact information, a home address or physical location, financial information, or ID pictures or numbers.”

Learn:

How to Get Twitter Followers: 44 Tips and Tricks That Actually Work (Hootsuite Blog). If you’re wanting to boost your following on Twitter, this list is packed with ideas.
5 Threats to Your Nonprofit’s Reputation on Social Media (Social Shake-Up blog). Fake news, fake accounts, fake comments. It’s a good idea to at least be aware of these potential threats.