Social Feed: Self-destructing friend requests, skip to good parts in live video

Social media is a fluid technology — nearly every day, the major social media networks are announcing a big change, coming under fire for the latest controversy or moving forward in smaller ways. Social Feed is a collection of those smaller changes that you may have missed in this week’s biggest news — like Facebook tracking calls, Pinterest’s new Following feed, and Facebook’s security-focused updates. Find Social Feed every weekend for the latest social news tidbits.

Twitter’s new live timestamp feature lets you skip the boring parts

Live videos may be popular, but they are often shared with a hint of where to fast forward to skip the boring stuff and find what the video is all about. Twitter began rolling out Timestamps, a tool that allows Twitter users to share a live video and choose the starting point. When readers click to view the video, the video starts at that exact spot. If the video is still streaming, a button to jump forward to the current spot in the live-stream will also be displayed with the tweet. The tool began rolling out on March 29 and will make its way into the apps, web platform and Periscope.

Snapchat could be testing third-party app integration

A beta version of Snapchat suggests the app could be considering allowing other apps to connect with the social platform, according to Mashable. The beta program has a section for connected apps, a move that would be new for the network that doesn’t integrate with other apps outside of Bitmoji and a Shazam agreement. Snapchat hasn’t commented on the potential change, so for now, the integration is only a rumored possibility. After Facebook’s fiasco with third-party apps tracking data, launching a similar feature may not be the best move for Snapchat.

Facebook comments on public posts may not have to be public

Commenting on a public post means leaving a public comment — but Facebook is testing an option that could change that. The platform is testing a tool that would allow users to choose between a public comment or a friends-only comment. Facebook says the tool would help friends connect with public comments. Comments may be viewed by the Page owner in a later update, but aren’t currently part of the friends-only setting. The option, for now, is only being tested among a small group of users.

LinkedIn is jumping aboard those autoplay video ads too

The Microsoft-owned professional network LinkedIn will reportedly also use autoplay video ads on the platform. The move comes as LinkedIn adds new video options for ad posts. The ads won’t play with the sound on at first, according to TechCrunch.

Princeton research suggests only 10 percent of YouTube and Pinterest influencers follow laws on ads

Federal Trade Commission guidelines require ads to be clearly labeled, even on social media. But new research suggests that, for YouTube and Pinterest, a majority don’t disclose when links are actually affiliates. The research out of Princeton suggests that 10 percent of YouTubers are following those guidelines and just seven percent of Pinterest users. The study was conducted using around half a million videos and more than 2 million pins, all posted sometime last year.

Facebook’s local news emphasis is expanding

Earlier this year, Facebook launched a new focus on local news, boosting locally reported events higher up in the news feed after reducing general news prominence overall. Now, Facebook is expanding that idea beyond the U.S., along with rolling out the “Today In” local news section to more cities. Now, Facebook is boosting local news in all countries and in all languages higher in the feed.

The Today In feature will also be rolling out to 25 more U.S. cities over the next few weeks, Facebook said. The section includes weather, news, events and other local information. The feature is inside the menu, but users in the cities with the feature can also turn on an option to put a daily update in their news feed.

Twitter gives crypto advertisers the boot

Facebook, Google, and now Twitter have all made moves to ban cryptocurrency ads. Twitter announced the ban earlier this week with a new policy. Cryptocurrency scams are becoming more common, including scams run on Twitter earlier this year.

Those Facebook friend requests may soon expire

Ignored Facebook friend requests may soon self-destruct. Facebook confirmed earlier this week that the network is testing a feature that would automatically delete friend requests that haven’t been acted on after two weeks. Tested features may never see a full rollout, but the option is one that is currently available to some members included in that test group.