Digital Digest – 16 July

Top 3 Digital News Stories this week

TWITTER PURGES BOT ACCOUNTS

With bot accounts taking much of the blame for the spread of fake news, Twitter has taken steps to purge the platform of accounts that don’t actually belong to real people, or accounts that have been inactive for some time. In a bid to increase trust in the platform, the move is hoped to prevent the amplification of spam or troll-like content. The biggest loser so far seems to be the official Twitter account, losing a staggering 7.7m followers, accounting for 12.26% of their total follow count. Perhaps the drastic loss of followers will go a long way to show that the brand considers trust in the brand to be much more important than a follower count?

INSTAGRAM LAUNCHES QUESTIONS FEATURE

Instagram has added another feature that allows you to get closer to your followers with a new sticker option. Users posting stories can ask their followers open ended questions or prompt followers to ask their own. The person posting the question is able to see who asks each question and only has to answer the ones they like – whilst still in the early stages, it’s a great opportunity for brands to receive instant feedback on products and services and learn more about users’ purchase behavior.

FACEBOOK FINED FOR DATA BREACH

An investigation into the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal has landed Facebook with a £500,000 fine for failing to safeguard user information. The fine is the maximum penalty allowed under law as it took place before current GDPR regulations came into effect. Whilst the £500k is small change for Facebook, if the breach had occurred after 25th May, they’d be liable for a hefty £2bn fine rather than getting off as easily as they have done.

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