Big news week! Facebook is upgrading security technology, prioritizing more trustworthy news publishers, adding desktop posting to Stories, and encouraging people to watch videos together (virtually), as well as hitting the road to help businesses with the platform in 30 cities. Instagram Stories adds GIFs, tests text-only stories and a screenshot notification feature, and letting friends know when you were last active. Snapchat Stories are now shareable beyond the platform, and app install ads add more valuable features. Finally, WhatsApp rolls out business access.
Facebook Acquires Confirm
Facebook buys Boston software company that authenticates IDs (Reuters)
Facebook Just Acquired This Company Focused on Authenticating ID Cards (Fortune)
Facebook bought a startup that specializes in verifying government IDs (Recode)
Facebook to Prioritize Trustworthy Publishers
Facebook Asks Users to Judge Trustworthiness of News Sources (Bloomberg)
Facebook To Prioritize 'Trustworthy' Publishers In News Feed (Forbes)
Facebook’s latest News Feed update will prioritize trustworthy publishers (TechCrunch)
Facebook Adds Desktop Posting to Stories
Facebook is testing the ability to create Stories on PC (Engadget)
Facebook won’t retreat from Stories as it adds desktop posting (TechCrunch)
Facebook is testing desktop uploads for Stories to make the feature stick (The Verge)
Facebook Testing Watch Party Feature
Grab the popcorn: Facebook tests Watch Party for sharing videos in Groups (Digital Trends)
Your Facebook Group May Soon Be Able to Host a Watch Part (Ad Week)
Facebook Unveils 'Watch Party', Making Watching Videos a Social Experience (Gadgets NDTV)
Facebook's Community Boost Program
Facebook launches 30-city Community Boost program (CNBC)
The Facebook Community Boost Show Is Set to Hit the Road (AdWeek)
Instagram Story GIFs
Instagram Adds GIFs to Stories and, Yes, It's a Direct Shot at Snapchat (AdAge)
Instagram now supports GIFs in Stories (The Verge)
Giphy builds transparent GIF library for Instagram Stories (TechCrunch)
Instagram Adding Activity Status
Instagram Added Activity Status to Instagram Direct (Ad Week)
Instagram has a shady new feature, but you can disable it (Hello Giggles)
Instagram Text-Only Stories
Instagram tests new ‘Type’ feature for Stories and screenshot alerts (The Next Web)
Instagram Stories is secretly testing a new text feature with fun font options (Mashable)
Instagram Story Screenshots
Instagram to support text stories and new stories screenshot notification! (WABetaInfo)
Snapchat Stories Shareable
Snapchat stories can now live outside the app (Wired)
Snapchat’s New Feature Means You Can No Longer Avoid Snapchat (Slate)
Snapchat Update Features Ads with Deep Links
Snapchat Is Making App Install Ads More Targeted With Deep Links (Ad Week)
Snapchat updates app install ads with quicker deep links, deeper analytics (Marketing Land)
Snapchat 'doubling down' on app install tech to drive ad sales (The Drum)
WhatsApp Launches App for Business
WhatsApp officially launches its app for businesses in select markets (TechCrunch)
WhatsApp officially launches app, profiles for businesses (Marketing Land)