Spectacles, Sales Talk, and Statistics

Snap, Inc.’s Spectacles
It’s been a busy week in social media. For starters, Snapchat is launching a new wearable, a pair of connected glasses that “make memories from your perspective.” Can these glasses, called Spectacles, work where Google Glass didn’t?  Maybe. The $130 price tag is much more accessible than Google Glass, and they’re being positioned as something fun (and maybe even frivolous) instead of a smart device. They certainly draw from a different design aesthetic.

A new name also signals that the company wants to be serious business. The app itself is still Snapchat, but the company will henceforth be known as Snap, Inc. It’s also rolling out new targeting options for advertisers, although how that plays against its reputation for privacy has yet to be seen.

Twitter Sale Rumors
People have been speculating (often on Twitter) that Twitter is looking for a buyer. Right now, the two main contenders seem to be Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and customer relationship management giant Salesforce.  Verizon is mentioned from time to time as well.

Considering the PR beating Twitter took this summer, the fact that it’s finally dealing with harassment could be the company’s equivalent of investing in new paint to get a house ready to sell.

Statistics (Ok, Metrics)
Technically, this a metrics story, but I really enjoyed the alliterative headline. In either case, Facebook recently ‘fessed up that it had made a serious miscalculation in its metrics for video ads. For two years.

Predictably, Facebook is assuring everyone that it didn’t impact billing or other video metrics. TechCrunch found some companies willing to say that the whole thing is NBD, you guys, since we totally don’t use that metric anyway.

Once again, it shows how much power Facebook has with marketers. If marketers want to reach their audiences where they are, it means playing ball with Facebook and relying on Facebook’s data to understand what worked. That also means relying on the company to tell them if the data is incorrect.

Little scary, isn’t it?

About the author:
Tara Saylor is a communications manager by day, grad student by night and curious all the time. She is also a web nerd and recovering copywriter. Tara focuses on the channels that enable communication and using metrics to improve communication effectiveness. She tweets about communication and combines as @AnokheeTara.