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Hello again!

A lot has been happening in the social media space with Facebook and Twitter announcing big changes and introducing brand new features. Here at DrumUp, we have been hard at work and have been working on a few new features as well. You can read more on our updates below. If you would like to share your thoughts on DrumUp with us, we are always listening and would love to hear from you.

1. Facebook to let you make purchases from retailer’s pages

You will soon be able to get all your favorite products on Facebook. The brand new shopping feature is currently being tested by a small group of users and retailers. The feature will be available on mobile as a separate shopping section in the Facebook app, and on desktops, as a separate tab. Retailers will be able to advertise their products on their pages and shoppers will be able to pick products they would like to buy. However, the decision of whether the actual transaction occurs within the Facebook app or on the company’s website – is up to retailers. No word yet on when this feature will roll out to the masses.

2. Facebook video ads may challenge YouTube

Facebook will be giving some very tough competition to YouTube as it expands its video platform. The social media network is encouraging video publishers to publish their videos directly on this platform as it plans on splitting revenue earned from the advertisements that will be sold along with the videos. Up until now, Facebook was trying to convince media companies to publish videos on Facebook pages with the promise that the content will get more attention. However, as Facebook’s video platform is quickly gaining traction, they are ready to incorporate advertising in the videos. More on Facebook’s plans on revenue sharing.

3. Facebook Messenger working on a digital assistant to help you shop

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Don’t we all love some help while shopping? Facebook is tinkering with the idea of having a digital assistant help you shop for products and services. While there are services available in the market that let you text your requirements to someone and have the goods delivered, there is always a service charge that users have to pay on top of the price of the goods ordered. It is unclear how Facebook plans on executing the logistics of it. However, it is definitely going to be a major breakthrough for Facebook if the service works. Will MoneyPenny be next in line after Siri and Google Now?

4. Twitter gives a sneak peak into upcoming updates ahead of its second Flight developer conference

Twitter’s second Flight developer conference is scheduled for October 21st, and the company has sent out a few teasers for all the new updates that will be announced at the event. There are some changes coming to the Fabric developer platform – which provides developers with a set of tools that can be used to better integrate Twitter into their applications and also offers tools for analytics and advertisement management. But, that’s not all. Many more updates to be announced at the event.

5. Twitter’s new Safety Center to bring down trolls

Trolls no more! Twitter recently introduced it Safety Centre which will help users improve their experience with the micro-blogging site and make it safer to use. While it hasn’t made a very big difference, Twitter is slowly trying to address issues around online safety. The Safety Centre provides general tips on how to strengthen passwords, or how to report spam account. It is supposed to be a central hub where users can find solutions to their problems in one location rather than having to search for the entire site for it. Twitter has outlined how the Safety Centre can help you.

6. Twitter removes personalized homepage wallpapers

Users are not too happy with the new changes Twitter has made to homepage wallpapers. The micro-blogging site has removed any personalized or preset Twitter backgrounds that users might have been using, and replaced them with what users are calling “blinding white” backgrounds. Users who are logged in will only see the personalized wallpapers on Twitter’s public pages such as list pages, collections pages and Tweet pages. It is possible to change the wallpaper by going to the main Settings menu, and making the change under the Design tab. Here is what Twitter’s spokesperson had to say about the change.

7. LinkedIn no longer lets you export your contacts

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LinkedIn has removed a feature that allowed you to export your contacts. You will now be asked to request a data archive, which can take up to 72 hours. Before the feature was pulled, users could export contacts and download a VSF of CSV file. LinkedIn provided no indication about this feature being removed. If you need to get access to your connections that you made while using the service, or the ones that you manually imported when you first joined, you would need to request access to the account data. Venturebeat tells you exactly how to access your account data.