Hello Social’s Social Media Year In Review
Hello Social’s Social Media Year In Review
What a year you’ve been, 2014, and what better way to bid you farewell than by cataloguing the year’s social media activity.
So Long, Farewell
It’s that time of year when we reflect on twelve months of mass celebrity selfies (Ellen, we’re looking at you), butts that may or may not have broken the Internet (Mrs. Kardashian-West), charitable wet t-shirt contests, lots of sport and far too many heart-breaking moments. What a year you’ve been, 2014, and what better way to bid you farewell than by cataloguing the year’s social media activity.
To start us off, here are Australia’s top 15 social media moments of 2014. These moments were the most talked about, re-tweeted and shared across all platforms.
Robin Williams’ death
Tony Abbott in parliament
Malaysia Airlines Flights tragedies
Ice Bucket Challenge
Game of Thrones
Ebola Virus Outbreak
Conflict in Gaza
South Sydney Rabbitoh’s win
FIFA World Cup
Melbourne Cup
Ellen DeGeneres’ Golden Globes Selfie
Phil Hughes
#BreakTheInternet
#IllRideWithYou
Joan Rivers’ Death
Onward and Upward
This past year saw many improvements to our favourite social media platforms, and we also welcomed some new members to the gang. Here we breakdown the key happenings in the past dozen months.
Facebook introduced a search for the all the past posts you’ve ever created, along with a ‘save’ facility. Now you can ensure that drunken status update from 2007 remains a permanent reminder of your cringe-worthy younger self. The platform also launched the ‘Facebook Groups’ application, allowing for easier navigation through your various groups. While Facebook is trialling a ‘buy’ button on their advertising facility, we are set to see some huge changes for 2015…so stay tuned!
It’s been a big year for Instagram, and exceeding Twitter’s active monthly users was just one of their highlights! They also introduced a high-tech ‘hyperlapse’ feature to record slow motion videos, and you can now edit the caption you pair with your uploaded photo (finally!). They’ve also added five new photo filters – the first time since 2012. Valencia is so old news.
By adding an index to search every Tweet ever published, Twitter has turned itself into an active information-driven platform. Users can also share tweets through direct messages. Twitter recently took a leaf out of Instagram’s book and added various filter options for the photo upload facility.
New insights into who has viewed your profile and how they found it has given Linkedin a more analytical kick. With an added brand new blogging interface for users, the platform is becoming more professional than ever (is that possible?), and has made it easier for individuals to track how they are performing in the business world.
Desktops get outta here – you can now ‘Pin’ directly from your phone! The addition of this feature has made Pinterest easier to use than ever, with more people using the mobile site to actively upload their interests as they see them!
Snapchat
To say Snapchat has taken the world by storm is the understatement of the year. It’s made documenting every moment of your life simple, addictive and slightly risque. By introducing the ‘GeoTag’ facility, users can now add a location stamp to their photos and videos by tagging where they are. The multimedia collage feature MyStory has allowed people to update friends (and complete strangers) in real time with their movements, and has even been successfully employed by brands such as Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Fashion Week in New York. The new ‘chat’ facility has also made chatting easier and more interactive than ever!
The award for this year’s most talked about new social media platform goes to…Ello!
The members-only Ello was the up-and-coming social platform that generated the most noise this year. Combining blogging with photos, it is based on the concept that social networking should be personal, simple and connect people together.
Spotlight on Yo: This year’s Dark Horse
Yo, an app that allows users to message each other one word, “Yo,” was largely written off when it launched. Motorola, however, changed all that when they used Yo to launch their new Moto360 smart watch. All users who sent the brand a Yo in a 24 hour period received a link via a Yo; the first 20 people who clicked won a Moto 360. Choosing Yo was a smart choice – it allowed Motorola access to the most valuable real estate in the digital world: user’s lock screens. By cutting through the noise, the brand was able to guarantee that their content would reach their audience.
