Weekly Digital Roundup (6.24.13)

For your digesting delight, we’re kicking off a weekly digital news roundup to keep our circles privy to the web’s happenings. Social, SEO, marketing, design – each Monday we will cover our industry’s key topics, in case you missed them. Without further ado, here’s what we found to be the biggest news, so you may comfortably remain snuggled under a rock.

Instagram Introduces Video

Vine, who? Incase you haven’t heard, Instagram announced last week that it’s adding video capabilities to the platform. Instagram users can now upload 15-second video masterpieces, complete with 13 new filters and video cover images. Unlike Vine, users can go rewind and delete sections during filming on Instagram. And as if that wasn’t incredible enough, Instagram called upon video scientists to help develop its star feature: Cinema. This feature stabilizes your videos in order to create video magic. So long shaky hand-held videos, and hello beautifully filtered Instagram works of art. The new update is now available for iOS and Android users. Will this push Vine out into social media oblivion? Check out this article to find out more.

Facebook – Hashtags, Photo Comments, & New Insights

We’ve heard about it, but now it’s official: Facebook announced this week that it has started rolling out hashtags to a small percentage of users, in an effort to make public conversations more searchable.

Facebook Insights are also getting a much needed facelift. With a sleek new look and additional metrics, marketers will be jumping for joy. Facebook is consolidating some metrics while breaking down others. Some of the most notable changes are separating the “People Talking About This” measurement, which combines a number of different stats, and helping brands to better understand their analytics by tracking individual stats per post. The new insights are only available for a handful of pages at the moment, but Facebook plans to continue extending the feature in the coming months.

In case your fingers grow weary of typing, you can now comment with a photo on Facebook posts! Yet another new feature Facebook has rolled out this week.

Twitter – Viacom Deal & Free Analytics

Twitter inked a deal with Viacom this week that will create social video advertising campaigns around programs on MTV, CMY, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, and more. The campaign will debut during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, set to air August 25. Real-time sponsor-supported highlights from the show will be shared via Twitter, allowing brands advanced tracking and analytics. Read more here.

Twitter is also experimenting with allowing a handful of users access to the comprehensive analytics dashboard free of charge. Check out the details in this article.

Google – Knowledge Graph Carousel

Google launched the Knowledge Graph Carousel for local search, a feature that pops up with images upon searching for things like local restaurants and bars. Hint: This would be a really great time for companies to consider updating their Google Places photos.

Google Launches Project Loon

Google wants to give everybody on earth the internet by launching balloons really, really, really high into the sky. Learn more about this effort, aptly named Project Loon.

Google Rankings – Stock Images vs. Original Photos

Matt Cuts, Google’s top search spam guru, announced that using stock images does not affect your site rankings any more than using original photography. Phew, glad that’s not a thing.It was a big week in the industry. Check back in next week for more!