During the session, we covered the following:

News Topics:

• Youtube Adds Messaging and Video Sharing to Mobile App
  • A mobile-only feature that allows you to share a video with friends and chat about it in a private thread
  • Feature will be built in to YouTube’s share button, and lets you select from your phone’s contacts list
  • Hopes to provide a dedicated spot to discuss videos and streams
• Amazon launches Spark, a shoppable feed of stories and photos
  • Users are encouraged to post stories, ideas and images of products they love, which others can react to with comments and “smiles” (Amazon’s version of the Like)
  • Lays the groundwork for a social network that lives right on Amazon, as customers’ user profiles
  • It also quietly began testing its own invite-only influencer program, which allows consumers to connect with Amazon products via influencer posts across social media
• Facebook is getting ready to test paid subscriptions with publications
  • Publishers also are expected to have full control over pricing
  • Several details of the subscription feature are still undecided, including how payments will be handled and if Facebook will take a cut of subscription sales
  • The newspaper trade association News Media Alliance is leading an effort that seeks to let members negotiate collectively with Facebook and Google
• India overtakes the USA to become Facebook’s #1 country
  • A total “potential audience” of 241 million active users in India, compared to 240 million
  • Social media penetration in India remains relatively low, with just 19 percent of the country’s total population using Facebook in the past month, compared to 73 percent penetration in the United States, and a global average of around 42 percent
  • Facebook’s active users in India are mostly men and skew young, with more than half of the country’s users below the age of 25

To learn more about new topics and interesting ideas, see Dean’s Twitter feed.

Remember you can submit all questions in advance of each coaching session by e-mailing our Help Desk.