The Law and Business of Social Media
September 09, 2016 - Advertising, Cyberbullying, Marketing, Privacy, Free Speech

Social Links: Snapchat ad revenue grows; the UK’s revenge porn problem; laws that enable control of digital assets after death

Snapchat is on track to rake in an enormous amount of ad revenue by 2017.

Also, there’s mounting evidence that the company is working toward developing a Google Glass-like product.

We have written previously about the scourge of revenge porn; it turns out the UK has a serious revenge porn problem, too.

A new law in Illinois requires social media sites to give their users the opportunity to name a beneficiary who can access their accounts if they die. Only a few other U.S. states have laws that similarly protect social media users’ digital assets.

Baltimore police use Geofeedia to monitor citizens’ social media posts, raising concerns among civil libertarians.

Now you can see when someone reads the direct message you sent on Twitter (unless, of course, the recipient disables read receipts).

According to a new study, positive comments from your friends on Facebook can bring you as much happiness as having children. Those results don’t necessarily contradict earlier studies, which found that social media users became depressed when they consumed a lot of content passively.

Are hashtags actually hurting your Twitter marketing campaigns?

Pinterest’s president predicts that media publishers eventually won’t care whether their content gets consumed on their own companies’ websites or within partner apps.

A new chatbot called Yala examines users’ time zones, social media histories and other factors to determine the most effective times to post to social media.

Will brands eventually have virtual spaces where consumers can test drive products or try on clothes?