Got a minute? Check out our quick update on what's new in the industry.

Facebook
Not so long ago, Facebook rolled out a very visible feature at the top of users' newsfeeds: Facebook Stories. Despite their visibility, they haven't been nearly as popular as Instagram Stories but that may be about to change. Facebook has just announced they will soon be allowing users to cross-post their Instagram Stories to Facebook, via the Facebook Stories feature. This means that Stories shared on the Instagram platform can also be shared in your Facebook Story as well. 

Our Take: 

• The obvious upside to this move is that it can greatly expand the reach of a Story. Instead of just reaching an audience on one platform, it can now potentially reach audiences on both Facebook and Instagram.
• The down-side is that this feature isn’t available to brands. Because Facebook Stories aren’t available on business Pages, their Instagram Stories can’t be cross-posted. However, many believe that this will be remedied soon since Facebook has previously hinted that Pages may soon have Stories capabilities.

Snapchat
Snapchat is taking business and location-specific filters to the next level with the rollout of Context Cards. These provide more information (like reviews, business hours, phone number, etc.) along with calls-to-action when users swipe up on snaps that are tagged with a business-specific filter. Watch the video of Snapchat’s explanation of Context Cards here. In addition to showing normal business information, users will also be able to make reservations or book a car ride thanks to partnerships with third-parties like Foursquare, Uber, Lyft, TripAdvisor, and OpenTable. Snapchat says they’re planning to bring on partners in the future.

Our Take:

• Context Cards are another example of word-of-mouth advertising skyrocketing these days. It’s a very subtle way of marketing a business as people watch their friends’ snaps.
• For Snapchat, this is a good move as it means users can do more things within their platform, whether that’s reading a restaurant’s reviews, making plans with friends, or calling an Uber.

Twitter
Twitter rolled out two new features this week: A bookmark option and a “Happening Now” view. The bookmark option allows people to save tweets they’d like to read later or store for future reference. Previously, users had to go through a variety of clunky methods to save a tweet, such as sending a DM to themselves or tapping the Like button. The “Happening Now” feature is a carousel view of events that will sit at the top of your Twitter feed, showing you exactly what is happening at that moment. The feature is mainly focused on sports, but Twitter says it will incorporate breaking news and entertainment updates as well.

Our Take:

• In the grand scheme of things, both updates seem relatively minor. But, with Twitter’s place on the struggle bus lately, they could potentially work together to create a more appealing and easier-to-use platform for Twitter’s users.
• It will be interesting to see if Twitter allows businesses to track how often their tweets are bookmarked, particularly those with links attached. As of right now, Twitter hasn’t specified if this feature will be available, but we’ll be watching out for it.
• The “Happening Now” view is great if you’re into news and sports. It’s also a good way for brands to see what people are talking about at that moment in order to post relevant, timely content.