With a new lockdown looming on the horizon like a winter storm, once again we don’t know what to expect. So in this month’s edition of last month in the digital sector. We wanted to reminisce on an October of freedom (kind of), of positivity and of hope.
Darkness rolls in
The winter months and total darkness are something we learn to get used to in the UK. However, now we can finally appreciate dark mode in the Facebook app too. Dark Mode is one of those strange things where although we can’t totally explain it, there is always a demand. In fact, the social media connoisseurs among us, love Dark Mode. Yes, it’s easier to use at night and doesn’t blow your eyes out of your head when you get a notification in the early hours, but is that really why people use it? Or do they think it looks cool? Because it totally does!
Despite dark mode being readily available across all other versions of the Facebook, it wasn’t in the app version. Which, let’s be honest, is the most important, especially for Dark Mode. Anyway, it’s here, in time for winter as if its arrival is a spooky, Game of Thrones-style metaphor. We can confirm, winter and Dark Mode are most definitely coming.
Snapchat friendship report
As they did last year, Snapchat released its annual friendship report for the whole digital sector to see. This year the published findings look a little different from last. That is a positive and not a negative as you may expect. The findings highlighted that due to the physical distance being increased. We have learnt to insert the word ‘social’ back before, ‘media’. With many users claiming that they have used at least one platform to rekindle a previous relationship and in some instances form new ones due to the lack of opportunity to meet physically.
The true beauty of the friendship report is that it highlights certain life events and occurrences and assesses the effects of these events upon our relationships. This allows us to pinpoint stages of our lives when forming and maintaining relationships.
Snapchat prides itself on being the platform for friends and the findings of its reports would reinforce their beliefs. In a year where little else good has happened to most of us, at least we are learning the true value of a great friendship.
Keep linking-in
As you would expect, Microsoft announced that LinkedIn was up by around 30% in usage in the last quarter. With more people looking for work due to the pandemic, it’s understandable that the premier job-seeking social media platform would grow in active users. It’s brilliant that people are using LinkedIn for what it’s fantastic for. No longer is it being overlooked whilst we flock to share a meme of an owl or a photo of our meal. Due to the circumstances, we are making use of the assets we have in front of us, and LinkedIn as a platform is reaping the rewards.
The platform also announced that revenue was up around 15% and that rise had largely been driven by increased ad spend. As more of us interact with LinkedIn, more recruiters are spending money to try and capture our attention. It’s win/win if people obtain jobs so let’s keep using the platform and promoting online job searches.
October 2020
In a month that was all about the US presidential campaign. Most of our beloved social media platforms have found their own ways to crack down on the spread of miscommunication.
With ‘fake news’ becoming somewhat of a tagline for presidential candidates across the globe, the responsibility for weeding out the nonsense has fallen in the laps of the social media giants. Each has a list of things they are committed to promoting and ways to stop the spread of fake information, we just wanted to mention this as an overview. If you see something and you can’t vouch for its validity due to the source lacking credibility, don’t share it.
Thank you for reading this edition of ‘Last Month in Digital’. Check out our Instagram stories where we post the latest headlines for social media and digital sector news. Why not explore our website, check out our work, read some other blogs, and come back in December for the November edition.
For more news and information about the digital world, take a look at some more of our blogs for helpful tips, tricks and advice:
