From Snapchat settling quietly to Twitter's buy button, recapping the top social stories of the week

This week's Apple event revealed the new iPhone 6 handset, as well as the iPhone 6 Plus, and the new Apple Watch.

I’m not going to list every last detail on here because a. I’m lazy and b. it would be very boring to read when you’ve probably read somewhere else already, but I’ve been having a snoop around and wasn’t really that impressed.

It seems the new iPhones are just what you can get on Android, except two years later and for double the price. WTF is the point in that? At least offer something new, but I do love a big screen.

I thought I would hate the Apple Watch, but I actually think it looks quite nifty. I wouldn’t buy it, because I think smart watches are just for lazy idiots with too much money, but it was more impressive than some of the Samsung efforts that I’ve seen.

Facebook market value tops $200bn

Facebook’s share price has hit a new milestone, reaching over $200bn (£124bn) for the first time, making it the 22nd biggest company in the world, and if it was listed on the FTSE, it would be the third largest company on there.

Each share was worth $77.89, and analysts have been quick to point out that the valuation was achieved at a faster pace than Google. Looks like all those sponsored posts are going well then…

Twitter launches buy button

Twitter will be testing a 'buy' button within tweets in order to try and generate cash, allowing people to buy an item directly from the update.

Apparently, it has been testing the service with a small number of users and will be rolling out the service on a wider basis soon. Once users have clicked on the button, they will be prompted to enter their payment and shipping details. If they are already known to the merchant and have already registered with a seller, they will be asked to tap the button to confirm the purchase.

Obviously this is a great option for retailers, as it means people don’t even have to go on their site to see products, they can target and sell to their audiences through Twitter.

I don’t think it will make too much difference to Twitter users, as the only thing being added is a button within a tweet. However, it depends how click-happy retailers are going to be with their tweets as to how annoyed I’m going to get.

Snapchat settles quietly

On the day where the tech press were all over the Apple announcement, Snapchat quietly settled a co-founder dispute regarding Reggie Brown, who claimed he came up with the idea for the app and was unfairly shut out of the riches.

CEO Evan Spiegel and CTO Bobby Murphy faced a lawsuit from their old fraternity brother, but it looks like they’ve managed to bury the news under the excitement of Apple’s announcement and Brown will apparently be walking away with an equal share.

Facebook refuses to remove video

Facebook has been in the news again for refusing to take down a video of a kitten being covered in petrol and set alight, because apparently it doesn’t breach any of its rules.

This comes after controversy surrounding the video of the US journalist James Foley being beheaded in Syria, the video of which did the rounds on Facebook, which the site took down.

Now, I’m all for freedom of information and people being allowed to be able to see what they want to online, but there is absolutely nothing beneficial about being able to see videos like this. Why would you want to watch it, unless you’re a total sociopath?

Videos of this nature need to be taken down from sites like Facebook, and people that post them need to be held accountable for their actions. There is nothing ok about animal cruelty.

Ice Bucket Challenge hits 1bn YouTube views

The playlist of YouTube videos related to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has reached 1bn views, topping the ‘Harlem Shake’ craze from last year.

According to YouTube, the Ice Bucket challenge videos have had double the uploads and three times as many views since the craze swept social media. The ALS Foundation has raised over $100m in donations and Wikipedia page views for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) increased 18 fold to 2.89 million page views in August.

Nominations videos are probably one of the most annoying things on social media, but you can’t deny that they work!

Iona St Joseph is head of social at 10 Yetis