The Friday Wrap is my weekly collection of news stories, posts, studies, and reports designed to help organizational communicators stay current on the trends and technology that affect their jobs. These may be items that flew under the radar while other stories grabbed big headlines. As always, I collect material from which I select Wrap stories (as well as stories to report on the For Immediate Release podcast, along with stuff I just want to remember to read) on my link blog, which you’re welcome to follow. If you want to make sure you never miss an edition of the Wrap, subscribe to my weekly email newsletter.

News

BART’s Twitter account gets open and honest—Why can’t more government social media be as candid as BART’s Twitter account was one on Wednesday night? In response to a commuter unhappy about delays, whoever had control of the account replied with resigned honesty: “BART was built to transport fewer people, and much of our system has reached the end of its useful life. This is our reality.” The tweet launched a dialogue with commuters that was unusually frank. One participant who tweeted that she was “really in awe” of the transparency noted that BART “is rewriting the book on striking just the right tone. Acknowledge riders’ frustration, but also educate about root causes.” The takeaway: Whoever was responsible for the Twitter account on Wednesday was well-versed in the system and its workings. This is why I worry about interns being handed the keys to Twitter by so many companies. (I’ll eat my words if it turns out an intern was responsible.) Other institutions should take note that people responded well because they were treated like grown-ups. Read more

Eggo’s emoji set was the result of social media monitoring—Eggo is releasing “Egooijis,” an Eggo keyboard featuring waffle images. If you think that’s just a brand jumping on a cultural bandwagon, guess again. The Kellogg brand, through social media monitoring, found nearly 1,000 posts, tweets, and other content expressing a desire for a waffle emoji. Son, on International Waffle Day (yes, it’s a thing) on March 25, Eggo will release the emoji set it has been teasing via Twitter since late February. The takeaway: Want to raise the odds that your campaign will work? Make sure it’s a response to something you know people want. Read more

Instagram succumbs to algorithm pressure—It has ever been thus on Facebook. Twitter is adopting it. Now Instagram is testing software to make sure you see images you’re most interested in rather than the chronological stream from those you follow. It makes sense that the Facebook-owned company wants to serve up more photos you’re likely to interact with, since I read on VentureBeat that interaction rates on Instagram dropped 40% last year. The takeaway: There’s something to be said for the raw, unfiltered flow of content from people you find interesting enough to follow. Instagram users in the test group can’t opt out of it, which means we may not be able to opt out when (and if) it goes system-wide. Sad. Read more

Instagram users are in revolt—Nearly 155,000 Instagram users have signed a petition to “keep Instagram chronological. The takeaway: I’m not the only one who wants at least one service to resist the temptation of the algorithm. Read more

Everyone now sees Twitter’s algorithmic timeline—Speaking of algorithmic timelines, Twitter’s test is no longer a test—it’s the default timeline for all users, with “tweets you are likely to care about most (showing)up first in your timeline,” according to the company. “We choose them based on accounts you interact with most.” Fortunately, users can opt out. The takeaway: The impact isn’t as dire as some predicted, but some users are protesting. Ideally, you could choose to see those “while you were away” tweets in a separate feed. Read more

Google unveils six analytics apps for marketers—Google wants to make it easier to use data to figure out how to better serve your customers. The six new tools are part of the Google Analytics 360 Suite that helps marketers understand their customers, conduct multivariate testing, simplify data collection across multiple sites, and more. The tools are in limited beta, but will open soon to Google Analytics Premium and Adometry customers. The takeaway: I need to get far more up to speed on data analytics. How about you? If you need more convincing, read the item “Business isn’t ready for data” item in the Research section below. Read more

Retailer settles with FTC over poorly-disclosed native ads—The retailer Lord & Taylor has settled charges brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that claimed the company wasn’t clear that it had paid to have an article appear in a fashion magazine. The retailer was also accused of failing to disclose that it had paid social media influencers as part of the campaign. The takeaway: It’s not the Wild West out there. Clear, prominent, unmistakable disclosure is the rule everyone should follo. Read more

Apple News will open to all publishers—With Facebook opening Instant Articles to any publisher (including you and me) and Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages initiative ramping up, Apple clearly saw the writing on the wall and opted to make its Apple News Format available to any publisher. All three tools are designed to speed up the loading of news pages on mobile devices. The takeaway: Apple News only works on iOS. Instant Articles works only within Facebook. Both are discrete tools. AMP is a derivative of HTML and works with any content, anywhere. I wonder which will get the biggest uptake? Don’t look for winners and losers, though. Most publishers—including businesses that have become publishers—will most likely wind up needing to accommodate all three platforms. Read more

Pope Francis joins Instagram—He’s already known for posing for selfies. Instagram seems a logical step for the world’s most social Pope ever. Beginning tomorrow, pics from “Franciscus” will begin appearing on the photo sharing app. The move follows the pontiff’s meeting with Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom during which they talked about “the power of images to unite people across different cultures and languages.” The takeaway: Is the leader of your organization ready to step out of the shadows? Edelman CEO Richard Edelman has called for CEOs to create Facebook pages to enable customers and other stakeholders to connect with them. Establishing a visual identity isn’t a half-bad idea, either. Read more

Trends

Sustainability reports were kind of a big deal last year—In 2011, 20% of the S&P 500 Index companies published a sustainability report. Last year, that rose to 81%. The takeaway: customers, consumers, activists and other stakeholders—not to mention shareholders—care about sustainability. This tracks with the Edelman Trust Barometer finding that a majority of people believe companies should invest their resources in social and environmental causes, not just profitable enterprises. Read more

Social media isn’t about the demographics—For decades, demographics have been a gold mine for anyone trying to target a message. On social media, it turns out they’re not so useful. A survey from Ipsos, Audience Theory and Yahoo found that audiences aren’t responding well to demographic-based targeting. One reason: We want to be targeted with content based on our interests, not just our age group. The takeaway: Hence the need to better understand more complex data. Read more

L’Oreal launches an unbranded content hub—On the one hand, we’re seeing the early move away from concentrated content portals to distribution across multiple networks; last week I reported on lifestyle publication Obssessee, which is launching without a website of its own, opting instead for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as the channels for getting its content to its audiences. On the other hand, content portals continue to be big business, as evidenced by L’Oreal’s investment in a global content hub designed to capture the attention of beauty fans. The hub—Fab—carries no L’Oreal branding and covers competitors in addition to its own stories. The goal isn’t to sell anything, but rather to build engagement with a highly desirable audience. The takeaway: Minimally branded content is gaining favor as marketers recognize that building the category is as important as pitching product. A rising tide lifts all boats, right? Read more

Research

Most brand social media activity is one-to-one—The results of a study of Twitter activity from 20 of the world’s biggest brands found the majority of social content created by brands was not campaign-based or brandjacking of cultural events. It was one-to-one communication between the brand and individuals. In fact, a staggering 93% of brand-created social content was one-to-one. The takeaway: If most of our social media efforts are one-to-one, shouldn’t we focus more on doing it well? It seems a shift in resources may be worth considering, away from campaign-based social media and to the genuinely social content that already seems to be occupying most of our time. Read more

The gap in how managers, HR, and staff perceive corporate culture—If you work in internal communications and this doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, nothing will. A survey of 1,800 U.S. adults found massive gaps between how front-line workers think about corporate culture, how HR staff do, and managers’ perceptions. HR professionals, who represented a third of the respondents, believed they were in charge of corporate culture. They also said the culture attributes that mattered most to employees were managers and executives leading by example, employee benefits, and a shared mission and values. Those results don’t line up with staff or managers, nor are managers and staff in synch. The takeaway: This is serious, and communicators are in a position to help address it. One key takeaway from the survey: “Millennials are making it clear that they believe the power to impact workplace culture lies predominantly with the people who do the work, according to WorkplaceTrends founder Dan Schwabel.” Read more

Business isn’t ready for data—Companies aren’t ready for the imminent reality that data analytics will drive a lot of their business. A survey from MIT Sloan Management Review and SAS found managers don’t have the requisite skills and companies aren’t investing—financially and culturally—in preparing for a data-driven marketplace. The takeaway: I mention this because communication agencies and in-house practitioners are in the same boat. To this day, there is only one PR agency that is a Google Certified Analytics Partner. I’m getting serious about getting up to speed. Care to join me? Read more

This week’s Wrap image—of the coolest gift-wrapped shirt I’ve ever seen—comes courtesy of PostMeme’s Flickr account.