Facebook Combats Fake Stories | Social You Should Know

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Facebook appears to be taking steps to rid feeds of fake news stories, and LinkedIn adds a new tool called Conversation Starters. All this and more in this week’s edition of Social You Should Know.

Facebook is Apparently Taking Aim at Fake News

As a way to rid feeds of fake news, for which Facebook has been under tough scrutiny for spreading as of late, the social media giant is allegedly using a survey tool and asking for help from users. The single-question survey reportedly asks readers to rank (on a 5-point scale) to what degree they think a link’s title is essentially misleading. Why are fake stories even a trend? It likely comes down to money. Generating traffic to sites can result in ad revenue to publishers (legit or not) for ads that are displayed. The more traffic, the more revenue. Fake news stories with luring headlines drive traffic, and hence produce more revenue.

LinkedIn Helps Break the Ice

In an effort to encourage members to connect or reconnect with one another in an informal way, they’ve introduced a new tip called Conversation Starters. It comes about one year after LinkedIn revamped its messaging feature – a place for shorter, more casual conversations. Users can access the feature by going to the messaging tab and clicking on the lightbulb which will spark several potential conversations to populate in a stream. You can click on any conversations in that stream and it will populate a message to that person. You can send as is or tailor it so it’s not as generic. Crack!!! That’s the sound of ice breaking.

New Pinteresting Features for Business Profiles

In its latest move, Pinterest enhanced its visual layout to highlight products through a rotating showcase that appears at the top of a profile. Brands can now hand-select five boards to feature in the showcase.  Additionally, the following sections can show up underneath for easy navigation: Boards, Pins and Shop. The rotating showcase is set against an all-white background with minimal text so it is simple, clean and bright. The experience will be consistent across the web and mobile.

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