📷 Image Credit: TechCrunch 👆By: Sarah Perez TL;DR Facebook & Instagram app Messenger gets a facelift and cross-communication between them with new visuals. Facebook Messenger is getting a makeover. The app is getting a visual update, and a few new features, including support for chat themes, custom reactions, and soon selfie stickers, plus vanish mode. These are all part of Facebook's bigger plan for an overhauled messaging platform that will allow Instagram users to communicate with Facebook users for the first time. Instagram users were given an opt-in feature with a new update. Messenger users won't have to take action to get this new feature. They will receive the update by automatically rolling out users as it becomes available in their region. In addition, they are changing the messenger logo to the one in the middle of the photo above, which has pink and purple colors to mimic the Instagram logo and not just remain facebook blue. The logo isn't the only thing changing; there will be options to have a chat mirror the color scheme. There will be other fun add-ons, like selfie stickers, that users can create, customize and share. We are enjoying keeping up with the progress and the fun features. Sources:TechCrunch Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor

📷 Image Credit: Forbes 👆By: Peter Suci TL;DR Free press for Star Wars helping firefighters in Oregon. Baby Yoda is back. The character of "The Child" from the Star Wars series The Mandalorian took over social media when it debuted. The childlike version of the popular Star Wars character Yoda blew up when the series aired last December. So much so that it gained much attention from fans and out-trended political candidates emerging at the time. While the next Star Wars series featuring baby Yoda isn't coming out until the end of October, the fictional character is becoming a sensation on Facebook once again. This time the little alien boosted the morale of those fighting the Oregon wildfires. It all started when a grandmother and her grandson were shopping for supplies to send to the firefighters battling the Oregon fires. The pair saw a cute baby Yoda toy and wanted to send it to the firefighters. The Baby Yoda toy found it's way circulating between firefighting hotspots as the fires continued. The Toy gained attention and now even has a Facebook page @babyyodafightfire. The page has around 52,000 followers and 50,000 likes allowing baby Yoda to become a fun gender-neutral storyteller during these fires and bringing smiles to faces in an otherwise stressful situation. We love a feel-good story amongst the tragedies! Sources:Forbes Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor

📷 Image Credit: Social Media Today 👆By: Andrew Hutchinson TL;DR YouTube guidelines clarify what's needed to get that pretty blue badge next to your name. Want to know how to get verified on YouTube? Well, they just made it a lot easier to find out how. Last September, YouTube announced it was changing its verification process, and now if you look at YouTube requirements, it's not a mystery anymore to get that blue checkmark next to your channel name. The first requirement, you must have at least 100k subscribers. Until you reach the 100k mark, you won't have access to this form. The second requirement is "Chanel authenticity" YouTube describes this as needing to be an authentic user creating your content, which means you will need to be verified as the person making the content and the one posting it. The third requirement equals profile completion. The user must be public, including a description, videos, and a channel icon, in order to have an official presence. YouTube also notes in these updated guidelines that they will take away verification if users are seen to be taking material or impersonating other users. These requirements seem pretty reasonable, and now creators striving for the blue badge know exactly what they need to work toward. Sources:Social Media Today Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor

📷 Image Credit: Media Post 👆By: Larissa Faw TL; DR Is it that moms are the following most prominent social media demographic? Moms are taking over. During the pandemic, every group and demographic has increased their social media use, but Middle-aged women with school-aged kids have gone up the most. 85% of these moms claim their social media use has doubled since March. 52% of them admitted that their usage went up by 4-8 hours every week outside of what their jobs required. One of the most significant factors affecting this has been the added responsibility of their children's education. Many of these moms share that the recent influx in their screentime has been due to their online search for educational material and tips and tricks for homeschooling their kids. Brands love it! As moms spend more time on social media, they have more time to form a relationship with this demographic. Instagram and even TikTok seem to be getting their most significant increase from moms. Many moms said that they created their TikTok for the first time when quarantine started, and even more have been spending more and more time on Instagram, staying connected with their friends, and shopping more on Instagram. The time moms spend on Instagram is predicted to keep going up with the holiday season rapidly approaching. So remember your mom when considering your marketing demographic. She may be more of your target audience than you thought. Sources:Media Post Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor

📷 Image Credit: AXIOS 👆By: Stef W. Kight TL;DR Fake news is a problem, and we all know it. GenZ gives us hope for the future with their keen eye to recognize it and not put up with it. Gen Z may be more immune to the lure of fake news. Experts and polling have suggested that younger people apply more context, nuance, and skepticism to their online information consumption. Why does this matter? GenZ is what we need to combat the misinformation that is ever-growing. Social media, as we know, is growing and may become the primary news source for younger generations, with 83% of college students saying they get most of their news from social media now. However, while that percentage might be pretty high, only 7% said they found it to be the most trustworthy news source. 69% of Gen Z surveyed said they felt it was easy to distinguish real news from fake news, while half said they think it's hard for adults to determine the same. While that seems more option-based and may be biased, it's true. Studies show that the youngest American adults are far less likely to share misinformation online than older American adults. So what's the point of all this? It would be unrealistic to say fake news will go away with coming generations, but experts say it will be far better understood by the rising generations than it is today. Sources:AXIOS Written by: Sofia Christensen, Intern Edited by: Lisa Knight, COO & Mentor