Favorite Finds

This was a busy week out there in social land! People were talking about all sorts of news and useful tidbits such as the new Facebook roll outs and Goodbye to Kobe. Amid all the chatter, I found some golden nuggets to share with you. Here are my favorite finds:

• Pay Up – Spring is in the air and everyone is focused on all things fresh and green. Green like money, that is. This past Tuesday was #EqualPayDay that served as a reminder of the prevalent gender pay gap. This brought about a plethora of stats illustrating the inequality in compensation between male and female workers. As the issue has played a role in the 2016 Presidential election, the social channels were abuzz with content from political figures trying to get on the right side of history.
• (Awesome) Nerd Alert! – Alpha Centauri, a star 4.37 light-years ago, has been garnering a lot of attention this week due to a sudden influx of interest in space exploration. A group of scientists, philanthropists, tech innovators and billionaires announced a plan to send a fleet of robot spacecraft to Alpha Centauri to deliver thousands of small probes into space. Potentially costing billions of dollars and taking decades to accomplish, the project aims to release the probes into space where they will be propelled by laser beams from Earth to scour the universe.
• You got somethin’ to say? – This week Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant (aka the Black Mamba) played his last game before retiring from basketball. To help fans share their Kobe love and fond farewells, Nike Basketball promoted #MambaDay on April 13^th. Lovers and haters of Bryant alike flooded social channels with their memories and media. On the flip side, #MyAdviceToTrump was trending as more people found themselves brimming with wisdom for the unconventional nominee. We also saw #LetMeCheerYouUpBy generate massive amounts of funny videos, happy thoughts and other little pick-me-ups such as Erin Brockovich’s pic of Jane Goodall.
• The ‘Book’s Big Reveal – This week Facebook held (and streamed live) its two-day F8 Developer Conference to showcase new products, tools, interactive demos and industry speakers discussing the future of FB and social technologies. Some of the major updates revealed included: an open-source 360-degree video camera, living streaming from any camera even a DJI drone, a “save for later” feature and the much anticipated bot platform for messenger. Oh, and don’t forget the virtual reality selfies! Next on the list? Zuckerberg says augmented reality glasses are “what we’re trying to get to.” Here’s a helpful guide for using Facebook Live.
• Not to be out done, Insta’s big news – While Facebook was making so much noise at its convention, Instagram announced a new look for Explore featuring video channels. You can browse for videos or have personalized recommendations presented in the “Videos You Might Like” section.
• We only know BIG data – The collection, analysis and application of data is seen in just about every industry you can think of – PR included. Luckily, Forbes’ Abbi Whitaker wrote up a list of five tools for data-driven PR. These resources help PR teams keep track of everything from infographics and social media analytics to influencer rankings and website data extraction. I stumbled across one called Coverage Book that aims to make media reporting a breeze!