Things to remember when using social media July 2014 email hello@commonagency.com phone 01484 437454 Yorkshire studio The Media Centre 7 Northumberland St. Huddersfield West Yorkshire HD1 1RL London office 16 Upper Woburn Place London WC1H 0BS
The growth of social media It s everywhere now, so why avoid it? Lately you can t seem to go a day without some form of story arising from Twitter or Facebook. This shows that Social Media is becoming bigger then ever. There are outlets for everyone, from photography focused Flickr to the business based Linked In. Mobile is growing Facebook has over 1 billion users, 200 million of these users are mobile only. Youtube reaches more users then Cable TV does (USA). This shows that users are using social media more and with more users joining everyday, This cannot be ignored. Permissions All social medias need permission from the user before the app can link with them. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will all ask the user for permission before accessing and distributing any information. Do not abuse this trust that the user gives you. Important Just because social media exists does not mean that completely compatible with everything. Some apps may require more privacy than others after all not everyone want s to share everything! Its best to carefully consider what should and shouldn t be done with social media before even offering the user the chance to decide.
Common Knowledge 2014 Instagram and images Images based social media Hashtags Instagram is the king of image based social media, but there are alternatives like Snapchat offer a something slightly different to the user. It s important to decide on the social medias that are right for your app. Instagram will typically be the first choice for anything picture based, so remember Users can place hashtags on an image until their heart is content. If you want to let the user share content to their Instagram account then remember to let them add hashtags. #Don t #Hinder #What #The #User #Wants #To #Do. The images are square Other sources It may seem obvious to you, but do not forget that Instagram images are square. If you forget this fact, then trying to use them or share to Instagram will cause you more problems then benefits. Flickr, Tumblr and Picasa are all image based. Facebook and Twitter can also handle photos just fine. Just because the user has selected Instagram doesn t mean they won t want to choose Facebook next time. Inappropriate content Instagram has rules. It is important that anything the user posts meets the rules around content and privacy. If your app has a private or personal element then make sure this information is not given away when the user shares to Instagram.
Facebook and Twitter Facebook & Twitter Facebook & Twitter let the user share a short message with their friends, these statuses can also have videos and pictures attached. Limits Twitter has a character limit on posts so make sure that anything you want to share fits inside the limit, otherwise the user will share something that ends up being half a Content Just like Instagram there are rules on the content that can be posted. Make sure that everything is suitable before it gets shared. Spam No one likes spam. Don t post content up every 5 minutes. Let the user control what, when and how it gets posted. Otherwise they will stop using your app and refuse to give it access again. Video If you let the user take or edit video then give them the offer to share it. But make sure the video file is not huge. A large file will take time to share, and the user may not be patient or even be stationary. If they lose signal the users video may fail to upload. Be considerate to the user before offering them the ability to share content.
About Common Common Knowledge 2014 These documents are for information purposes only. No representations are made as to the accuracy or completeness of any information or referenced links. Common Agency is a specialist digital agency, experienced in the design and engineering of consumerfocused native mobile apps. Working for clients throughout the UK, and having launched apps in over 30 countries, our own in-house team of talented iphone, ipad and Android developers work hard to bring your mobile strategy to life, increase customer satisfaction and maximise your investment. email hello@commonagency.com phone 01484 437454 Yorkshire studio The Media Centre 7 Northumberland St. Huddersfield West Yorkshire HD1 1RL London office 16 Upper Woburn Place London WC1H 0BS