27 Oct Week in Review: Facebook Tests Star Ratings; Pinterest Users Want to Buy
Most of the big tech news this week was from Apple (iPad Mini) and Microsoft (Windows 8 and Surface), so the social media news was sort of light this week. Here are a few quick updates, however:
Facebook Tests Star Ratings for Places
If you have a lot of locations, you might want to know that Facebook is now testing a new star rating system for places.
If they roll this out widely (which is not guaranteed at all), then you could see competition for reviews the way you see it on Yelp and other review sites.
Keep an eye on it (as will I), but as you see in the end of this article, they test a lot of stuff.
Facebook Testing “Suggested Posts”
Ok, anyone else getting confused? Last week, Facebook “clarified” the names of their offerings, like Sponsored Stories, Promoted Posts and something else I can’t recall, but I’m sure it sounded similar.
Now they are testing “Suggested Posts.” If offered widely, this would be another way for brands to buy their way into the news feed. I’m not a fan of what they’re doing to clutter up the mobile experience, but in the short term at least, it’s working for Facebook’s bottom line.
Pinterest Users are Looking to Buy
New research shows that people on Pinterest are more than 4x more likely to be searching for “inspiration on what to buy” than users on Facebook. Of course, Facebook has a much larger user base, but when you look at the intent of the site, it’s a dramatic difference.
Both sites are about “helping me pass the time,” but Pinterest is much more about inspiration and “keeping up with trends.”
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
