Flickr photo of a wrapping machine at work
courtesy of of Rachel TayseI’m drafting today’s Wrap from a hotel room in Santa Fe, where I presented the second of a two-day workshop on polishing web writing with the great writing coach/consultant/trainer, Ann Wylie. As always, the Wrap is a rundown of news, posts, articles, and research that’s useful for communicators to know but that not have been widely shared. I collect items of interest from which I choose the pieces to include in the Wrap on my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow.

News

Snapchat Discover the latest big thing in news—There wasn’t a lot of praise for Discover when it launched. The news service bolted on to Snapchat lets media companies like Yahoo, National Geographic, and People present news in bite-sized nuggets that combine video, music, and text. Since its launch, though, second-hand reports from people at news organizations suggest that during the initial launch period, the news clips were earning millions of views per day for each publisher. There could be an element of novelty in the numbers, but if Discover continues to attract high levels of viewership, it could spawn imitators, signaling a new approach to news delivery that accommodates the mobile-centric and time-challenged nature of a younger demographic. Read more

Facebook lets you live (online) forever—Facebook now lets you give control of your profile to a friend or family member after you die. Users have been requesting the feature for years. The new “legacy contact” feature will allow your designated representative to post information on your behalf, such as a pre-written farewell or information about the funeral. They’ll also be able to respond to new friend requests and update your profile photo. They won’t be able to change or remove previous posts, unfriend anyone, or read your messages. (Not that you’ll care.) Read more

Google ups its healthcare game—In partnership with The Mayo Clinic, Google is presenting health information that arises from a search on both mobile and desktop browsers. The enhancement could, according to some, redefine how Americans get health information online as well as the way medical authorities present health information. One of every 20 searches conducted on Google is for health information, so the shift in how the information is presented is significant. What users will see now is an expanded box to the right of the search results (for desktops) or an expanded box with deeper levels of information (on mobile devices). “The box will be filled with enhanced information culled from throughout the web, verified by multiple physicians and, finally, signed off by doctors from Mayo.” Read more

Adidas is first brand to use Twitter group DM tool—The Group Direct Message tool from Twitter lets users send a private message to up to 20 people, who can then engage in a closed conversation. A mere two weeks after the tool was introduced, Adidas offered group conversations with soccer stars to fans who supported one of its campaigns. Read more

App Pins will ease iOS app discovery—Pinterest has launched a new tool, App Pins, aimed at making it easier for iPhone and iPad users to discover great apps from among the 1.4 million available in the app store. Users will be able to pin a favorite app to a pinboard, allowing followers and searchers to discover it and grab it directly from Pinterest without needing to make a trip to the app store. Read more

Fake WhatsApp web page is a bank information malware scheme—It has been about a month since WhatsApp launched a web version of its wildly popular messaging app. The page lets users send and read messages from their computers. It also inspired bad guys to introduce a fake WhatsApp page to lure those looking for the real thing into installing financial malware that can grab bank information from their PCs. Read more

Estee Lauder’s new campaign was crowdsourced from its 20-something employees—#QuarterLifeCrisis is the theme of Estee Lauder’s latest digital campaign for its Origins skin care line aimed at Millennials. The campaign was developed by the company’s own Millennial employees. (Disclosure: My daughter is one of Origins’ top U.S. salespeople.) Read more

Native Americans say Facebook is accusing them of using fake names—Facebook requires accounts be held by people using their real names, and has been shutting down accounts of Native Americans deemed to be using fake names, like Dana Lone Hill and Shane Creepingbear. Of course, they’re real names, but it has taken as long as weeks for Facebook to re-open accounts they have closed. A petition demanding that Facebook change its policy regarding Native American names has attracted 9,000 signatures. Read more

Amazon tool lets anyone create a giveaway contest—Amazon has launched a new tool that lets any customer conduct a giveaway of products from the company’s catalog. There’s no cost for hosting a contest. Contests can’t give away prizes worth more than $5,000. Rules, design, and shipping are handled by Amazon. Brands could use the giveaways to build audiences and engagement, though the greatest value may accrue to independent artists, schools, and other entities that haven’t had the resources to hold contests before Read more

Trends

Hotel brands add user reviews to their websites—With user reviews assuming a prominent role in the travel industry, hotel brands have taken to featuring reviews on their own websites, often using widgets available from sites like TripAdvisor, where the reviews were originally posted. One hotel marketing executive said, “Being upfront about user-generated content would demonstrate incredible confidence in what we do.” And I don’t believe there’s a guest that’s stayed with us that hasn’t gone to TripAdvisor. Read more

More evidence print is not dead—Style website Refinery29 has produced 30,000 copies of a 28-page print magazine that will be available to visitors at New York’s Fashion Week inside Uber cars. A spokeswoman called the magazine an attempt “to bridge Refinery29’s online presence and real-world events.” Read more

Brands get better at Twitter—Total engagement for marketers jumped 105% over the previous fourth quarter, according to stats released by Simply Measured. The top 100 brands also distributed 11% more tweets, and followers grew 38% during the year. One industry insider said the improved numbers are the result of Twitter users becoming more comfortable with brands on the network. Brands apparently are also getting more comfortable with the platform. 95 of the top 100 brands tweeted every day. Read more

Cause marketing takes center stage—Between the Super Bowl and the Grammys, cause marketing is suddenly in the spotlight. Several of the commercials that ran during the Patriots victory over the Seahawks focused on societal issues, while at the Grammys, the celebrities talking up causes during their acceptance speeches and other moments in the spotlight. Media watchers are calling the messages a shift in the marketing landscape. Read more

GIFs evolve—YOYO has introduced a new kind of animated GIF. Rather than simply looping through its animated sequence, people viewing the GIF can control it by sliding their mouse back and forth across the image. Expect to see creative uses crop up quickly, though it may take a while before brands figure out a use for the technology. Read more

Facebook: The new eBay?—Facebook has introduced tools that make it easier for users to buy and sell items in their buy/sell groups. The tools let users add a “sell” button to posts, providing space for a description, price, and pick-up location. Users will also be able to mark their items as “available” or “sold.” Read more

Social media tactics boost Harvard enrollments—Enrollments to Harvard from wannabe freshmen rose 9% to a record 37,305 based on a social media recruiting effort. More high school seniors applied because of heightened social media use, including a new blog and activity on Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Read more

Marriott partners with YouTube stars for campaign—Giving more credence to the legitimacy of YouTube stars, hotel chain Marriott International is launching an original-content partnership with “What’s Trending” and five YouTube stars. The campaign spotlights the chain’s mobile check-in process. Travelers can participate in the action through the eyes of these popular video celebrities as they engage in activities like paintball, martial arts, and helicopter flying. Read more

Research

Carousel usage on mobile phones not what you may expect—Convention wisdom says that image carousels—popular on websites—aren’t a good idea on mobile devices. A look at mobile usage data revealed that people interact with carousels on mobile devices at a much higher rate than earlier research suggested—72% of users advance a carousel at least once and 23% interact directly with the carousel by zooming in on images. Another 23% tap on an image in a carousel in order to get more information. Read more

Your brain on Twitter—A series of neurological studies of people using Twitter found that Twitter use increased a sense of personal relevance by 27% among passive users and 51% among active users. Reading your Twitter timeline produces 64% more activity in the part of the brain that houses emotion than normal web use. Tweeting and retweeting elevates that to 75% more than normal web use. As for activity linked with memory formation, passive Twitter use resulted in 34% more than normal web use, and for active Twitter users, it’s as high as 56% more activity. Read more

Here’s why Facebook at Work could succeed—Chartbeat, which measures real-time traffic to popular websites, found that last December, 36% of Facebook visitors in the U.S. using desktop computer visited the social network from work. That could bode well for Facebook’s introduction of a work-focused version of the network. Read more