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Instagram launches in-app messaging function, Beyoncé uses social to promote new album & Twerking tops Google's 2013 'What is' search list

By Iona St Joseph

December 19, 2013 | 5 min read

Instagram Direct

Instagram has launched what is, essentially, their in-app version of Snapchat. Instagram Direct is described on their blog as "a new way to send photo and video messages to friends" and means that if you happen to see something hilarious that means something to just a small group of friends, you can share it solely with them, instead of all your followers.

There have already been Instagram Direct fails,with their charming gent sending a pic to what appears to be all the women he knows. Turns out though that you can see a list of all the other people the message has gone to. Smooth.

Handily, you can also delete photos or videos once you've sent them. Good news for when Captain Hindsight comes calling. According to Business Insider, all you have to do to delete an Instagram Direct photo or video is simply open the message and tap the ellipsis next to the comment field under the photo or video. Then tap "Delete this post" and confirm your intentions in the dialog box that pops up.

Woman Checking Facebook Falls off Pier

A Taiwanese woman has managed to fall off a pier in Australia whilst checking Facebook on her phone.

She was casually checking her newsfeed (I guess) on Monday night, when she ended up floating in the brine. She claimed to police that she couldn't swim, when they found her floating on her back, phone still in hand.

We've all almost hit a rogue lamp post whilst walking down the street, but walking off a pier is a significant level up. Don't Facebook and walk, people.

Twerking tops Google's Search List of 2013

Google has released a list of its most searched terms from the year.

'What is Twerking' came in at number one in the list of the top 'what is' searches, whilst 'what is YOLO' came in third. It's clearly not da kidz that are searching on Google then.

The top 10 general searches in the UK were as follows:

1. Paul Walker

2. iPhone 5S

3. Royal baby

4. Cory Monteith

5. Oscar Pistorius

6. Nelson Mandela

7. Grand National

8. Universal Jobmatch

9. Margaret Thatcher

10. Xbox One

Facebook Acquires Sports Data Firm

Facebook has acquired SportStream, a start-up firm that analyses social media mentions of sport.

It's thought that the partnership has been made to help Facebook's media partners find relevant sports content on the site, but there are rumours on the social media grapevine that Facebook have made the acquisition to make the site more like Twitter.

SportStream enables content producers and broadcasters to aggregate, filter and display sports data in real-time. Facebook say on their blog that they want to "help people connect with their passion around sports, and the world more generally."

As a sports fan, I look forward to seeing how this plays out (PUNTASTIC).

Beyoncé's Social Media Campaign (New Album)

Beyoncé has launched what could be written up as an excellent social media campaign. Turns out it was just the release of her new album.

With just a picture on Instagram, captioned 'Surprise!' Beyoncé managed to send the world into meltdown. She released her new album on iTunes with zero warning, but an Instagram post was all she needed. Twitter reported a whopping 1.2 million tweets about the album in just 12 hours.

She's already smashing records with the new album as well, as it sold 828,773 copies in three days, making it the largest single week ever in the U.S. iTunes Store, and iTunes' fastest-selling album worldwide.

Nice work, Queen B.

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