Social Media Marketing Update: Facebook Paid Messages, Instagram's Privacy Policy, and Twitter Lets you Download Your Tweets

The last couple of weeks of December means the holidays are here and most people are winding down but that didn’t stop some of our favorite social media networks from making some big announcements.  Here’s your social media marketing roundup for this week: Facebook Tests Paid Messages  Facebook announced just yesterday that it will begin testing paid messages with select companies. What does this mean? It means that advertisers will not only be showing up in your news feed and in your side bars, but that they will be able to send you messages to your inbox now too. Users will have the added benefit of a new filter feature, which will allow them to choose who they see messages from. However, paid for messages can’t be sent to the “other” folder and will appear in your inbox. Miss Ink’s Take: Bad idea Facebook, this move stinks. There are way too many popular social networks to choose from so why should we put up with an ad-dominated site. What’s next? Pay for our accounts so we can block ads? Hmmm… Instagram’s Privacy Policy Controversy Instagram released its new privacy policy this week, which is said to take effect on January 19.   Word quickly spread that the terms of use included wording that basically stated Instagram has the right to use any photos you add on the app in advertising and owed you zero compensation. Here’s the paragraph: To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you. Amid the controversy Instagram quickly (and wisely) issued a statement saying they would revert to their original terms of use. The app’s co-founder Kevin Systrom, said “I want to be really clear: Instagram has no intention of selling your photos, and we never did. We don’t own your photos – you do.” Miss Ink’s Take: Great PR crisis management.  Admitting fault and listening to your users is the best thing Instagram could have done. However, as on any social network, be careful what you post. If you don’t want it shared somewhere else, don’t post it. Twitter Lets Users Download Their Tweets Twitter announced this week that it would begin allowing users to download a complete archive of their tweets. Users will begin seeing an option called “archives tool” in their settings that allows them to do this. Miss Ink’s Take: This is great if you want a history of your company’s messaging.  Probably not as useful for the average user, unless they want a personal history of what they’ve said. Confused about how to use social media for your business? Check out our Miami social media training workshops and get on track for the New Year.