The Social Short 2020: Week 11

Can Meditation Apps Really Make a ‘Calmer You’?

The meditation and mindfulness sector of technology has been seeing massive growth. There was a 52% increase in revenue from 2018 to 2019, with the top 10 apps in 2019 bringing in $195 million. Now that’s something to meditate on…

The founder of the top meditation app Headspace decided to take it a step further, and create a new app, Calmer You, that specifically targets those struggling with anxiety. After receiving feedback on Headspace about the difficulty of daily meditation, Calmer You was created to provide additional practices to aid mindfulness and help with anxiety.

Calmer You aims to take the advice that most mindfulness apps provide, and put it into action. It kickstarts users to actually do certain activities, not just read or watch videos about them. The app provides users with a combination of anxiety-relieving techniques like meditation, fitness videos, and journaling. Alongside all of this is a 28-session course that teaches about understanding and managing anxiety. 

The app can be purchased with a yearly or monthly fee, however, it is not intended or recommended as a replacement for therapy, but more as a supplement to meditation. For more on this, head over to TechCrunch.

 

 

Facebook is Broadening Their ‘Horizons’ Into Virtual Reality

Facebook has begun testing a new virtual reality platform called ‘Horizons’, which allows social media users to interact in a virtual world. The platform was created by several top VR developers and takes on a cartoon-like design. It allows users to establish themselves in this world and then interact with others. 

Users get to create their own avatars, and Facebook claims to offer a wide variety of body types and stylistic features to make sure that everyone is represented and able to express themselves through the app. There is a social space called “spaces”, where users have the ability to interact. 

Beta testing invites are being sent out starting this week, and soon users will be on their way to meeting their virtual counterparts!

 

 

TikTok Targeting Marketers With New Tools

TikTok is introducing new analytics tools, which are aimed to help creators who are using the app for marketing purposes. 

The Creator Marketplace app allows brands to find TikTok users who would be a good fit as influencers for their product or company. The app factors in location, reach and focus topics to match ideal partnerships. 

With the new analytics features, brands that are on Creator Marketplace will now have access to influencer campaign views, engagement rates, audience demographics, and more.

What’s the catch? Not everyone has access to the Creator Marketplace app yet. It is currently on an invitation-only basis, which requires an application process.

Once the app is available to more people, it can become a game-changer for marketers and influencers alike.

 

LinkedIn’s Questionable New Feature

LinkedIn has taken to Spotify to create a plethora of playlists meant to emulate different work-related situations. Some of these playlists include; Interview Time, Never Give Up, New Job Fresh Start, and more.  

The purpose of this seems to be unclear, and people are confused as to why it is a necessary feature. The playlists feature a variety of tracks from different artists, seemingly suitable to many different music tastes.

Will this idea be a failure or a success? It remains to be seen…but so far, the feedback is not looking good.

 

 

In case you missed our previous #SocialShort, where we discussed the impact of coronavirus on the media streaming landscape, the possibility of IGTV responses and more, click here.

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