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Google's Digital Wellbeing May Soon Provide 'Sleep Insights'

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The Digital Wellbeing platform owned by Google may soon provide insights on why you might not be getting enough sleep at night. 9to5Google performed an APK teardown and discovered that Google is developing a functionality that may leverage a collection of information data from people’s mobile phones to offer recommendations about what might be the possible cause of sleeping issues.

You should note that these findings might not be 100% accurate. An APK teardown splits apart applications which have been uploaded to Google Play Store to pick out code lines that may reveal upcoming functionalities. As these features are still under development phases, these updates could change remarkably or the developers may never roll out those features at all. Moreover, the analysis of lines of the code may be different from the actual intent of that tool.

The new functionalities discovered by 9to5Google are part of the new Bedtime Mode feature which is just the ‘Wind Down’ tool released with a new name but comes with nearly the same functionalities.

In the new Digital Wellbeing beta version which is currently releasing for the Play Store, code snippets indicate that Google is planning to expand the Bedtime Mode feature. The Digital Wellbeing feature will use the time a user is not using their smartphone to examine the sleeping routine of the user. Moreover, the code also hints that the Digital Wellbeing feature will also tie into Google Clock, and it is yet now clear why or how Google will do this.

You should also note the code indicates that the Digital Wellbeing feature will require access to permissions including app usage, time zone data, light and motion sensors, and many more to create the data. Digital Wellbeing will use this data to evaluate whether a person is using their smartphone in bedtime and which applications the user is using during their bedtime. However the code interpretation is not yet clear, the data collected may also be shared with Google.

Lastly, it seems that the collected data will help Digital Wellbeing feature to display the amount of your bedtime window you spent using your smartphone, and the applications you use during your bedtime.

9to5Google also discovered that the company is developing a new ‘Night Notes’ tool. The code snippets suggest that the company is creating a new tool that will allow you to easily write down notes on your smartphone before sleeping. For instance, the Night Notes feature may prompt you to offload your thoughts before going to bed. This feature will be helpful for those users who overthink at night.

The Night Notes feature provides users a quick way to write down a quick thought. If you are a creative person and usually have ideas at night, this feature will help you to get those creative ideas out of your head before going to sleep. The code also hints that the Digital Wellbeing feature will remind you of your Night Notes when you wake in the morning.


Photo: Artur Debat | Moment Mobile | Getty

Read next: YouTube Introduces A New Bedtime Reminder Tool To Help Users Set Specific Time To Log Off

Mark Zuckerberg Voices Concerns Regarding Viral Misinformation

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With 2020 being an election year for the US, all eyes are pointed at Facebook and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that there were a lot of problems that occurred in the previous election many of which might have been directly caused by Facebook’s business practices. Hence, Mark Zuckerberg has decided to address the matter directly in an interview, voicing concerns about viral misinformation and making it so that people understand what Facebook is doing in order to prevent misinformation from getting out all in all.

Since the covid-19 pandemic is also having a huge impact on people, Zuckerberg is using this as an example of what Facebook is doing to prevent the spread of misinformation all in all. Essentially, Zuckerberg stated that anything that might cause immediate or grievous harm is removed without question, and more things are looked into in this regard than might be the case otherwise which is important because of the fact that misinformation has become quite a serious issue during the current period that we happen to be living in all in all.

However, with all of that having been said and out of the way, Zuckerberg also stated the importance of looking into things like freedom of speech should not be ignored. Essentially, Zuckerberg wants to make it so that as few infringements are made on freedom of speech as possible, something that has made him face quite a bit of criticism in the past especially when Facebook allowed politicians to post ads that featured blatant lies. In situations like this it becomes important to question the extent to which freedom of speech should be facilitated, especially in situations like where politicians are lying to people in order to get votes from them, something that could be considered a derailment of the political process in general.


Photo: Getty Images

Read next: Facebook makes some important announcements for its employees in case of remote-working policy implementation

Teenage Programmer Incorporates Self Driving Technology into GTA V

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GTA V is one of the most popular video games that has ever been made without a shadow of a doubt, and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that the creators of the game managed to incorporate so many amazing features into it that all players felt like they were being given the best experience possible in every single way, shape or form. The money this game raked in is quite impressive so you can count on the fact that it is a really good experience.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, there is one thing that a lot of people didn’t like about the game, and that is the driving mechanics. Driving a car in this game can often be a lot messier than you would realize, and there are a number of reasons behind why that is the case. Controlling the car is something that many found to be particularly irksome, and there are a number of other things that go wrong in this regard as well many of which are very important to keep in mind.

A teen gamer who also happens to be a programmer might have found a trick for this, and this fix essentially has a lot to do with the current AI infrastructure surrounding self driving cars. While most people would think that self driving technology is an extremely complicated luxury, the truth of the situation is that there are a lot of ways in which this technology is becoming a great deal more widespread than it has ever been before, and companies such as Comma.ai are working to make technology like this far more accessible.

The aforementioned teen gamer, whose name is Leon Hillman, has incorporated the open source driving software provided by Comma.ai into GTA V, making it so that you can just sit back and relax while the car gets driven automatically. Using cars is often important in the game because of the fact that the map is quite large and you need them to get around, so not only this is a fun little thing to check out it might even be useful to those that are trying to play the game and want to make it so that they can get a lot more out of it by making it just a little bit easier.

Read next: How Gaming Cheats Lead To Malware

Facebook Brings User Friendly Update to Customer Chat Plugin

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For quite some time now Facebook has been trying to push itself as some kind of center for the various kinds of business activities that end up taking place in a thriving digital economy. One of the features that it has included is the customer chat plugin which companies that have Facebook pages can use in order to communicate with their customers as well as to provide some kind of a platform on which the average consumer can get in touch with companies that they may be thinking of acquiring products and services from.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, there was one problem that was facing this kind of feature and it had to do with the fact that you have to be logged into a Facebook account if you want to be able to contact a business. This limited the scope of the feature somewhat due to the reason that not everyone has a Facebook account and many might simply not want to utilize their account for a wide variety of reasons.

While some might argue that the number of people who would not be able to access the plug in is somewhat limited because of the fact that it is unlikely that someone wouldn’t have a Facebook account in this day and age, it seems like Facebook has taken this seriously. A big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that the social media platform has now made it possible to access the plug in even if you aren’t logged in. This will greatly expand the usability of this feature and is a sign that Facebook is moving away from getting people to log on and might be facilitating the use of its features to a wider public.

Read next: To What Extent do Top Tech Companies like Google and Facebook Track your Online Activities?

Survey Shows Screen Time on the Rise Despite Easing Lockdown Restrictions

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After many weeks of being locked down and unable to leave their homes, people are finally able to go outside thanks to a general easing of lockdown restrictions in the US. However, in spite of the fact that people can leave their homes it seems like the stats around screen time, especially among teens, do not indicate them using their phones any less than they have been over the past few weeks during which it was understandable that they might want to try and use their phones more often due to the reason that they didn’t really have much else that they could do.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, a recent survey indicates that screen time has gone up quite a bit among teens. According to the survey, around 57% of respondents claim that their screen time has gone up by an hour on average and this is the sort of thing that can cause a lot of problems if you think about it because of the fact that if teens are using their phones too often you would generally assume that they are not doing anything productive. This can be seen with the 37% of respondents saying they mostly use their phones to stream TV shows or movies.

However, it is important to note that not all screen time is a bad thing. For young children, more screen time as well as the wide variety of videos they are watching all have quite a bit to do with their cognitive development. It can help them become accustomed to language in a very engaging manner. Teens that are on their phones a lot aren’t always watching shows either, there’s a lot of educational usage out there that they might just be looking into so there is no real reason to panic just yet.



Read next: eMarketer Forecasts That Instagram And Snapchat Will Experience Higher Engagement Growth During This Year Compared To Facebook

Alexa, iPhone, PlayStation: Tech Adverts Reimagined in 60s Style

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The 1960s was an important decade for technology, during the 60s humans saw the inventions of the first ever computer mouse, the first ever video game and LED lighting amongst other creations. It was a time of innovation and growth for humans, as we progressed into the future. These inventions are still popular and being built upon today, but the 1960s was also known for something else, advertising. Known as 'The Golden Age of Advertising', the 1960s is known for charming adverts and catchy taglines created by the slick businessmen trying to sell anything and everything that comes their way, from vacuum cleaners to mattresses.

Today we are exposed to thousands of ads every day, a contrast to the simpler times of the 60s. Adverts come quick, convey their message, and go. They can appear on our social media timelines, on websites we visit, or they can pop up out of nowhere on our smartphones. Adverts today are not as personal, there is so many of them it is hard to remember all of them. If today's inventions were around in the 1960s, the Mad Men would have a field day creating ads for all the devices we currently use, using their wits to make these products seem necessary to our homes. 60s ads came with a much more personal touch, often incorporating home life into their ads to make products seem much more vital to everyday life.

U Switch have made a study which investigates this idea, taking modern day devices that we use so often and giving them 1960s style adverts. Taking modern products and putting an old-fashioned twist on them to see how the Mad Men would have marketed these devices.
The 1960s was the ‘Golden Age of Advertising’, a time when vacuum cleaners and dishwashers were sold through charming posters and catchy taglines. Consumers in 2020 are exposed to thousands of adverts every day, a contrast to the simpler times of the 60s. U Switch have taken six of the most iconic pieces of tech in our lives today and created 1960s style adverts for them to see just how differently these devices would be presented if they were created back then.
U Switch have created six 60s style posters for the iPhone, the Hive Home, the PlayStation 5, the Electric Bicycle, the FitBit and the Alexa. Creating a very interesting look into an alternate reality, as modern products can be seen through nostalgia tinted glasses.

The iPhone:

Looking at the iPhone first, this is probably the most iconic piece of technology invented this millennium. We use our iPhones for so much, emails, text, business, making purchases, searching the web etc. It is a dream product for advertisers as it offers so much, the Mad Men of the 60s would have more potential mottos than they could handle. U Switch went with the slogan, 'An iPhone a day keeps the boredom away', with this description: 'With more processing power than the rocket that launched Sputnik, Apple's latest iPhone is this year's most wanted gizmo. A record player, library and television set in one, the iPhone also supports electronic mail and social networking, putting the whole world in the palm of your hand.' Expertly put, the description stresses the fact that the iPhone can offer the user a plethora of uses, making it seem like a very essential item to have in your household.

iPhone: Tech Ads Reimagined

The Hive:

Next, they looked at the Hive Home, a smart central heating device that allows users to turn on their heating before they arrive home. A useful device which allows people to save energy and come home to a warm house! Something like this would fly in the 60s as they are all so home orientated in their adverts. U Switch used 'You'll always get a warm welcome with intelligent central heating from Hive' as the top slogan for the product, with the product description being 'After a long, hard day at the work, nobody wants to come home to a cold house. Well, with the new smart thermostat from Hive, you can control your heating from anywhere. Hive will even send you helpful reminders when you've gone out and left the heating on, so no more wasting money heating an empty home!'. Again, U Switch use the old-fashioned, warm approach to the language they use in this ad, fitting the 60s style of tone. This approach makes the product seem homely and attractive, inviting the viewer in to investigate this product further.


PlayStation 5:

Next, U Switch present a 60s style advert for the new PlayStation console, video games were not as huge as they are now in the 60s, but we're sure that the businessmen selling products would have no trouble marketing the newest PlayStation. Going with the slogan, 'Bring your high scores home with PlayStation 5', this playfully refers to the fact that a lot of video games would have to be played at an arcade during this time, the advantage of the PlayStation is that it can be used in someone's house. They describe the product with, 'It's pinball, it's football, it's all your favourite fun and games from the arcade, inside your television set. The all new PlayStation 5 brings the joy of the arcade into your home, so the whole family can play together, any time of the day.' Again, they focus on the advantages the PlayStation brings to the home, multiple games on the same console unlike arcade games and the attraction of bringing it into the family household.


The Electric Bicycle

Next, a product which does not seem so alien to 60s life. The electric bicycle is a convenient upgrade to the classic bicycle, making it an easier ride for the cyclist. U-Switch go with the motto of 'give your legs a well-deserved rest' and describe the product with 'Say goodbye to difficult hill climbs and tired legs, the new electric bicycle makes cycling a breeze! Sleek, stylish, and secretly powerful, with up to 35 miles on a single charge, you can ride faster and further than ever before. It's time to upgrade your pedal power!' As you can tell, the 60s style of homely, catchy language is always used in these ads. This style of marketing was what worked back then, the ads intend to emphasise how each product makes your life easier, such as here as they describe how this product makes 'cycling a breeze'.


The Alexa

Next is a product which would probably seem centuries away for citizens of the 1960s, but also one that would certainly be popular. Home life is such an important theme throughout all these 60s ads, so the Alexa which serves as a home assistant would receive the ad treatment. U Switch created the slogan 'Only the Alexa will do…' and described the product with 'It is most pleasant to relax after a hard day at work and now you truly can with the Amazon Echo, or Alexa as she likes to be known. The perfect at-home assistant – she will play your favourite music, answer all your important questions and even dim the lights for you.' This product would go down so well in the 60s, as anything that makes home life easier was a success in this era.


The FitBit

Lastly U-Switch put a spin on the FitBit, the wrist-based device which helps people see their heart rate and how many calories they have burned during a workout. A device like this on someone's wrist would attract all kinds of attention in the 60s, to get an audience's attention, U-Switch used the slogan 'a personal physician on your wrist' which does indeed sound very intriguing. The description used is 'Small and lighter than a Rolex watch, this revolutionary little gadget can track your heartrate, the calories you've burned and even the number of steps you've walked. And for all you lovely ladies, the Fitbit can even track your fertility cycle, but don't worry – we won't tell your husband!', the description uses humour well to attract an audience of women as they can use the FitBit for fertility reasons and it also sells it well suggesting it should be worn instead of a watch, 'why wear a watch when you can use the FitBit?' This kind of device is great for self-image and health, something that all people are concerned with, giving it a great selling point.



Read next: Take a trip down the memory lane with tech gadgets of 80’s serving online apps of today

Making Online Learning Better (infographic)

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Across the world, 90% of students have left classrooms and started to learn remotely. At first the idea was to keep them engaged in school so they could eventually return in a few weeks, but as the pandemic worsened it became clear that this academic year would be a wash. Educators turned their efforts to keeping kids engaged with learning and with their peers, but the stress of such a sudden disruption in typical education has made it difficult for many kids to stay engaged and on task with their learning. But parents and teachers alike are learning a very valuable lesson in all this - education doesn’t have to be rigorous for students to benefit from it. Education can be fun and can focus on life skills instead of academic skills and students can actually enjoy it. How can parents support their children through in-home learning?

Life Skills Count

Have you ever heard someone complain that you didn’t learn to do X in school and therefore your entire education was a failure? Now is the time to teach those skills. You didn’t learn to balance a checkbook in school? Help your kids learn about bills and earnings and how to keep the family budget in balance. You didn’t learn to do taxes in school? You’ve got an extension and plenty of time on your hands to have them help.

Cooking is a great teaching tool for kids of all ages because it can be easily tailored to different age groups. Cooking teaches math and baking teaches science. Even just baking a simple loaf of bread can teach kids valuable life skills while empowering them to learn they can take care of themselves. Meal planning and cooking for the family are skills that are not too advanced for kids of most ages depending on the complexity of the meals and meal plans. And the added bonus is that it can free parents up from having to take care of absolutely everything on their own while trying to work from home.

Academic Skills Aren’t That Difficult To Teach, Either

So you’re not a math teacher, does that mean you can’t teach basic math skills to your elementary aged child? Think again. Games like Monopoly and Yahtzee are great tools for teaching math skills to elementary aged kids, and spending time together as a family is also great for everyone’s mental health right now.

Reading to your younger child and encouraging your older child to read are crucial things to do, but you don’t have to force “The Classics” on them. Let them choose what they are interested in and make use of digital copies that can be checked out at your local library for free. In addition, audio books are widely available online and you can even find a Little Free Library in many neighborhoods.


There are also many different ways to engage with science while you are at home. Stargazing and learning about astronomy and constellations is always fun, and tools like the Heavens Above app or Google Sky can help you see where constellations are relative to you and even show you satellites that may be passing nearby.

Gardening can help teach kids about plant biology, food science, and self-sufficiency. Both vegetable and flower gardens are great places to learn about earth sciences. Leafsnap can help kids learn to identify trees and other plants in their yards, and iNaturalist can offer suggestions for identifying animal species in your area.

Learning doesn’t have to be hard, and it’s best to acknowledge that parents aren’t teachers so we shouldn’t be trying to emulate a classroom learning experience. Fortunately there are plenty of ways to make learning fun at home so that kids don’t even know they are learning. Learn more about making online learning better below.

Right now, 90% of parents are concerned about their kids falling behind academically, and more than 80% say they are struggling to keep their kids engaged in learning. This infographic outlines how to keep your kids engaged by making learning feel like play and exploration more than an academic exercise.

Read next: How Tech Is Saving School Through eLearning (infographic)

Declutter Your Life: The Entrepreneur's Guide (infographic)

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Remote working provides many benefits to people. Flexible hours, no commute, more accessibility for working globally, and increased employee satisfaction are just some of the advantages. But, it’s very difficult to find the right setup that encourages productivity and it can also be hard to find a good work/life balance that avoids burnout. Before the pandemic WD Storage were working on some content to help employees achieve a better work/life balance and increase their efficiency. To garner the most useful advice they looked to the most successful entrepreneurs. How are the likes of Amazon CEO and recently named trillionaire running profitable businesses while still getting 8 hours of sleep a day, completing daily exercise and managing to join the family for an evening meal. They don’t have superpowers that we are unaware of but they do have some useful lifestyle tips we can take incorporate into our own schedules. Below is an infographic detailing their advice.

So as you can see, the best advice is to organise and declutter your life and environment, removing potential distractions. In the midst of a pandemic with school closures and partners also at home, this is easier said than done. But simple steps such as unsubscribing from unnecessary emails can have a large impact on your productivity.

The best recommended tips for decluttering your life:

Define your own working week to suit your needs. If you’re growing your business you may need to put additional hours in but it may also be possible to work a standard 40 hour week. Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Yahoo, worked 130 hours a week, Elon Musk works 80-90 hours a week. Mark Zuckerberg works 60 hours a week and Larry Page works 40 hour weeks. There is no standard, think about what schedule suits you and then look at ways to make the most of those hours.

Prioritise important events and add them to your schedule as if they were a dedicated meeting. If you want to sit down with your family every evening for the dinner, set it in your calendar to work around. If you want to commit to daily exercise or mediation like many do put in the calendar.


Sleep as per your needs. Work out how much sleep your body needs to be in top form. If that means sleeping 9pm-6am then start winding down your day early enough to achieve that. The CEO of Twitter says 11pm to 5am works for his schedule. Quality of sleep is much more important than quantity also so consider blackout shades, eye masks and other sleep aids to help improve your sleep pattern.

Take essential vitamins and minerals. Looking after your body is rewarding.

Avoid screentime before bed and don’t check emails before sleeping, wait until the morning. It’s tempting to check emails especially if you are awaiting a message but stressful negative news can increase anxiety and affect your sleep.

Meditate and exercise regularly. 20 minutes of meditation reduces stress and anxiety, as does exercise. Fresh air also helps.

Simplify decisions to free up brain space. Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs always wore the same outfit so they didn’t have to think about what to wear each day. Likewise, food preparation prevents us wasting time on deciding what to eat each day.

Think of all the unnecessary types of clutter in your work life and look to eliminate or reduce. Remove anything from your desk or workspace that doesn’t bring you joy or that you need to perform your duties. If it distracts get rid. Choose the most effective and efficient tools to help you do your job and get rid of the rest. Unsubscribe from ineffective newsletters. It may seem simple but how much time each day do you waste getting rid of emails that are no longer relevant? Reduce your paperwork and clear out unnecessary documents. Go paperless where possible but keep files clean and accessible.

Prioritise tasks and make a list of things you want to achieve that day. Procrasination is the enemy so focussing your workload into manageable targets will help you be efficient.

Make time for your family. Your support system needs you and you need them. Reminding yourself why you work so hard is an important motivator.

With many of us furloughed or less busy right now, why not use the time wisely so when things start to ease, you are in a better frame of mind to achieve your goals.


You don't get many chances to reorganise your life but right now as we can't do much else, it's the perfect opportunity to declutter. And I'm not just talking about getting around to clearing out that spare room. Finding a work life balance has always been a challenge and with a lot of people working remotely it's probably more difficult now than ever before. Before the pandemic hit we were working on some content to look at how the most successful entrepreneurs have refined their schedules and lifestyles to ensure they can do everything they need to without burn out. This infographic outlines how entrepreneurs decluttered their lives to achieve the best balance.

Read next: The Art Of Managing Momentum (infographic)

YouTube is taking some important steps to limit the harassment that many content creators face

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Harassment through hate comments and personal attacks via comments and messages are a part of social media, and influencers, content creators, even celebrities are quite habitual of facing these types of unpleasant situations sometimes.

However, LGBTQ+ Community activist, transgender author, and content creator Jackson Bird has recently told in an interview with Ariel Bardin, the VP of creator products at YouTube, that despite him loving the work he does and the videos he creates for his community, he still feels threatened by a large number of hateful comments and personal attacks by haters.

He acknowledges that YouTube’s comment hunting algorithms and a strict policy against abuse often helps, but even that does not control when the attacks get personal and threaten the privacy and safety of the community as well as of himself.

He is not alone who probably goes through this torment and psychological trauma. Other video creators also become a target more often than we would like to think.

To combat this situation, YouTube recently rolled out a feature which is called ‘Held for review.’ Any comments posted under a video are held for a manual review from the video uploader/creator. All comments, especially the ones that are flagged by YouTube are brought to the creator’s notice and they can decide whether they want to get them posted or get them removed before they reach the public.

Apart from this, YouTube is also thinking about introducing a feature through which creators will be able to self-limit the reach of their videos to avoid harassment.

Jackson Bird said that it is the main aim of every creator that their videos reach the masses and gain maximum views, likes, and popularity. However, sometimes due to the fear of hate comments and attacks, creators unwantedly feel like limiting the reach of their videos and keep them contained within the specific community that they are meant for.

So, with this potential feature, after restricting a video, the creator can make it visible to the channel’s subscribers only, and this video will also not be recommended on Up Next panels and in YouTube’s trending tabs. This is probably going to help the creators from getting unwarranted and targeted demonetization of their videos also.

Aside from this, YouTube is working around a pre-upload video review service for content creators, called ‘Unlisted Video Review.’ This feature is currently in testing, and it is meant to allow the creators to send in their videos before uploading on their channel, to a platform consisting of very senior and expert reviewers. They will watch the videos and review them, and let the creator know whether there are any policy violations or not?

They will also tell the creator, if the videos have any potential to get hateful and abusive comments from the viewers or if they are safe to be uploaded?

This feature will also make it certain whether these videos will be monetized or not?

These features and YouTube’s efforts to control cyber harassment as much as possible are truly commendable.



Read next: YouTube Introduces A New Bedtime Reminder Tool To Help Users Set Specific Time To Log Off

Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranks Mark Zuckerberg as the third richest person in the world amid the coronavirus pandemic

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Amid the unprecedented situation of the entire world caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a piece of surprising news that has recently surfaced is that Mark Zuckerberg has become the 3rd richest person in the world. The first and second ranking people are the Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, respectively.

The CEO of Facebook has managed to reach this rank when there was an addition of more than $30 billion to his net worth through March and April 2020 alone, as updated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking.

Zuckerberg’s total net worth is now estimated to be somewhere around $89 billion, which is more than the net worth of billionaires like the fashion giant Bernard Arnault and the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett.

When the lockdown was first implemented in California in the mid of March 2020, Mark Zuckerberg was ranked fifth in the list of the richest people of the world. His net worth at that time was around $57.5 billion. California is still under lockdown, but it turned lucky for Zuckerberg as his wealth increased even in extremely difficult times.

One reason for the surge in his income and rank could be because Facebook saw a great surge in popularity and usage during the pandemic.

In a time when the entire world economy crashed and around 40 million workers in the US alone had to be laid off, Facebook saw some amazing growth, thanks to the global lockdown and social distancing measures.

People bound at home turned towards different tech apps to carry on their work and studies, as well as for information and entertainment. Facebook is one of the most prominent and widely used social media platforms, so its growth and usage were not surprising. Still, Facebook has reported having earned better than ever expected!

Facebook generated up to $17.74 billion through January till March 2020. It gained 1.73 billion daily active users during this time, and 3 billion monthly users across all of its apps that include WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.


According to reports, Facebook’s stock saw a leap by 8%, and that added up to $44 billion in its net market value. Now, these are some whopping figures for sure, despite Facebook’s claim that it experienced a significant decrease in ad demands through the last three weeks of the 1st quarter.

The 1st quarter revenue generation for different tech apps has been good too, owing to the reason mentioned above. However, 2nd quarter results that encompass the earnings from April till June 2020 are expected to show a better and clearer picture of the impact of coronavirus pandemic on these businesses.

Coming back to Facebook, it not only earned big time, but it has also done a lot of noteworthy efforts for the community and its members too during these months of the pandemic.

The company has come up with various new features and tools like ‘Messenger Rooms,’ better and improved features for ‘Workplace’, and an e-commerce feature called ‘Shops’ for Instagram as well as Facebook users.


Photo: ALAIN JOCARD/ AFP/Getty Images

Read next: Facebook Combines VR And AR To Offer A New Mixed Reality Workspace Concept

LinkedIn has been on a ‘cleaning spree’ and that too, for a good reason

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Recently, LinkedIn released its Transparency Report and has claimed that its automated defenses encountered a huge number of fake accounts in 2019, out of which, 93% have been blocked.

As per this report, there were a lot of fake account registration attempts that were made all through last year, especially in the first six months of 2019.

Through the proactive tools of LinkedIn, 7.8 million fake accounts were stopped from being created in the last 6 months of 2019, and LinkedIn’s safety teams managed to catch 3.4 million fake accounts. They also managed to restrict 85,600 accounts that were reported by the members.



During this period, the usage of this professional network saw a definite surge.

Because of this increased usage, it was expected to encounter a lot of spam and scam attacks too. But LinkedIn takes pride in its advanced technology and tools through which all of these scamming and spamming attempts were stopped, and these accounts were brought down before they caused any harm to the community and members.

With such things on a roll, another thing that happened was the rise in harmful content.

LinkedIn managed to bring down 500 cases of content containing hateful and derogatory posts or comments, 15,635 cases of harassment, 9337 cases of content containing adult themes, 1839 cases of violent and graphic content, and worst of all, 167 cases of content promoting child abuse and child exploitation.

While LinkedIn’s own tools are pretty amazing, members also played a key role in cleaning the filth and junk from the platform.

The members of the community placed 11564 requests to take down content due to copyright infringements in a total of 290170 pieces of content. LinkedIn followed these requests and after reviewing, pulled down 290145 of those reported contents!

All these efforts are great steps to build a safe and secure environment on the platform. Cybercrime and harassment attempts are a part of social media, and no one is completely safe from them. But it is good to know that these social media platforms are at least trying to control these things as much as possible.

In this report, there are a lot more details about LinkedIn’s proactive role and an efficient system to get rid of all the junk from its platform. It also discusses that new tools and features are in the process of rolling out to let the members enjoy a great and improved user experience.

LinkedIn also acknowledged the role of members who reported unwanted content and mentioned that they hope to continue getting positive feedback and reinforcement through the members in the future also.

Apparently, LinkedIn is not the only platform that took some action against harmful content.

Recently, YouTube also announced several improved policies to limit harassment and cybercrime as much as possible. They have even come up with features through which creators can limit the reach of their videos to minimalize the chances of harassment, along with a reviewing panel for creators that can judge their video before it gets uploaded on the channel.

Creators on YouTube will also be able to manually review all comments under their video and choose to remove any comment that comes in the abusive or harassing category.

So, it is relieving to know that tech giants like LinkedIn and YouTube are trying to provide a healthy and safe environment for their millions of users.

Read next: LinkedIn’s State of Sales Report 2020 shines a light on the emerging and enduring trends that will impact sales in the coming days

Elon Musk realizes his mistake - Wants to take back some of the tweets made during COVID-19 lockdown

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Entrepreneur Elon Musk is all geared up to launch two NASA astronauts to the ISS through Crew Dragon - a spacecraft developed by his private company SpaceX. However, during these intensity-ridden days, he took the time for an interview with Bloomberg.

The prime focus of the interview remained on the series of bizarre tweets he did on his Twitter profile, specifically during the lockdown period amidst coronavirus.

According to Musk, the lockdown was a bit extreme, considering many people only had COVID-like symptoms and were not actually tested for the disease. He also argued that the data can no longer be called valid and are ‘off’ by a couple of weeks.

He agrees that some of his tweets were indeed dumb but he says that it is better to be on a straight line of communication with the audience, instead of being boring and talking about things that no one cares about.

Nevertheless, Musk would like to retract some of the tweets he made!


Photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images

Read next: Elon Musk under fire again due to thoughts about Artificial Intelligence and its implications on the humans

Google Voice Users Will Soon Be Able To Transfer Ongoing Calls

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Google Voice will soon allow users to transfer the on-going calls to existing contacts or other numbers through the calling app.

After becoming the part of G Suit, Google Voice is increasingly becoming important for many people. It may not be available in all the regions, but areas, where Google Voice is available, will allow to transfer calls in the future, as hinted by a new support page.

According to Android Police, if a user has an active Google Voice account, they will receive an update allowing them to transfer the incoming or outgoing call to another number.

A ‘Transfer’ button will be seen on the call options when a user is on the call, which will let a user transfer call to an existing contact or enter a new number. They will be able to transfer calls even to numbers that do not use Google Voice.

However, it will not be possible to transfer the call to emergency services or directory assistance services through the method mentioned above.

Once the call transfer is confirmed, Google Voice will merge the callers. It is expected that on the Android app of Google Voice, the original caller will be put on hold when the call is transferred. However, it is not yet clear whether the same will happen when the call is transferred through the iOS app, PC, or laptop.

Though many services already have the feature to transfer calls but it will be highly beneficial the users who are dependent on Google Voice. It has not been announced yet when the feature will be available but is expected to be rolled out in the coming future.



Read next: Google's Digital Wellbeing May Soon Provide 'Sleep Insights'

Facebook shares new set of tips to make social media posts accessible and easy to read by everyone

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Recently, Facebook gave out a bunch of useful tips to make your posts on its various social media platforms accessible to everyone.

Accessibility is not the only aim though. Social media posts should be easy to read and understand also. There are so many people out there who have different types of disabilities. Many of them have problems with reading, while many people suffer from eye-sight or hearing issues too. So, we should consider all these people while writing down our posts on different online forums.

The suggestions that Facebook has given are pretty direct and easy to follow. Some of these tips include the following:

One of the most important rules of writing is to use simple language and short sentences. Long sentence structure is taxing to read, while difficult vocabulary makes the post or write up very exclusive, and certainly not-easy-to-read-on-a-go for everyone. It also does not cater to masses and shuns the whole concept of making the posts widely accessible!

While using hashtags, it is better to use capital letters for each word, like #BestFriendForever, rather than keeping all the letters small like #besfriendforever.

This is called Camel Case, and, by capitalizing the first letter of each word included in the hashtag, it makes it super easy to read by people with visual impairment.

While using emojis to express your feelings, it is better to use the small built-in pictures with various expressions and ideas in your post. Sometimes people use text to create emoticons, like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ These are difficult to read and decipher by many people.

Text is hard to read when it is written on top of complex images and photographs. So, it is better to place text over a solid, high-contrast background and while you are at it, it is better to increase the contrast between your text and its background too.

By adding a brief text description for the photos you share, which is known as Alt Text, you can let your screen speak to describe your images to blind and visually impaired people. It is better to keep your alt text descriptions short and simple, like “walking through the park with my new kitten.” You can also add an image description to the caption of each photo that you share or post online.

Animated GIFs that have strong visual patterns or excessive motion like flickering, blinking and flashing can cause a lot of problems for people with cognitive and learning disabilities. Not only is it hard for them to read or understand, but it can also cause seizures for some people! So, always avoid using GIFs that flash more than three times per second and run for more than 5 seconds.


Include a good text transcript with your videos, which provides descriptions of sound effects and other noises along with references to who is speaking in the video. This is especially helpful for people with hearing loss, and for those too who are sitting in a crowded atmosphere and do not have their earphones at hand. By watching the video and reading the text, they can completely understand what you have posted.

Just like for videos, the descriptive text should be added for the audio recordings that you post online too.



Read next: You Can Now Create Facebook Posts Within The Creator Studio App

Why Tech Users Hate "Redesigns" - Even If They Are Almost Perfect

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As soon as the interface of a popular online platform gets revamped in a subtle or major way, the internet community jumps onto proposing their opinion. The podcasters don’t miss a chance of stating how bad the redesign is, whereas the tech blogger’s community also show off their dismay or anger.

Recently, Google Docs changed the visual appearance of permission and sharing feature and it received the same backlash. The reason behind this negativity is simple - people in general hate change and the mechanisms behind the frustration of people is something that is becoming hard for companies to cop up with. Similarly, social media users reacted intensely on YouTube's comments layout changes. Same happened to Facebook's Instagram app, when it tried to play with Profile layout.

To see the effect of any change on people in theory, there is an “endowment effect” that puts forward this important fact that most of the time users don’t really care about the benefits they might be getting through the change. This is because they get too comfortable with the old and are even afraid to lose what they start loving at one point.

There is also a study that was conducted back in 1990 to prove the effect. In that, participants were divided into three groups. The first group had the choice of opting between the two objects: a mug or a chocolate bar. The results later showed that the group was sort of equally split between their choices.

The second group was given a different choice along with mugs - they had the option of replacing the mug with chocolate bars if they want to. The third group too, on the other hand, was given a chocolate bar and had the likewise permission to replace it with a mug.

Surprisingly, both of the latter groups refrained to switch the original items with any options. This later made the researchers conclude that people may people two different items in equal proportion when given the option to choose one, but once they have something of their own, almost no one would prefer to choose a different or new item.

If we imply the results in the world of technology, then people find it difficult to adapt to the new interface because that disrupts their workflow and it also takes time and effort for them to learn something new. Hence, they go for the lazy approach and approve the old.

Furthermore, there is also a disconnect between designers and consumers. To explain that better, John Gourville, a professor at Harvard Business School, introduced the “9x effect”. According to his theory, consumers value what they already have 3 times more than what they can get, but the problem really begins when designers overvalue their new creation with the similar 3x effect. Therefore, this sums up to be the reason why some innovations, despite being great on paper, don’t really become a hit among users.

It is quite similar to the phenomenon of how engineers tend to go for technical excellence in a technology-driven company without actually realizing what users really need. The workable solution for this, of course, can be relying less on employees’ excellence and more on public testing because in the end its the customers who would have to really love the change.


Similarly in the case of Google Docs update, customers aren’t given much of a choice. But what if options like ‘Do you want to use the beta now?’ or ‘Do you want to wait until this officially rolls out?’ exist? This one improvement would have handed over the control to the end-users who might have loved it.

Tech companies often get away with the fact that despite some initial irritation, the change in design doesn’t really impact the learning curve. People eventually get accustomed because everything still is a little raw on the internet.

However, all being said, customers won’t also remain robots for long. The change in design does hit on an emotional level and it is about time that companies focus more on proposing designs that solve customer’s problems rather than feeding their own ego. Sure, the argument may be that some users are just lazy enough to adopt the change, but if your software or platform is going to be used by some stubborn or disagreeable children, it then becomes the responsibility of designers to communicate and delegate the changes sensitively. They should take into account, how the new redesign can also disrupt the work-life of an ordinary internet user.

So, the more upset users would be from a redesign, the more risk these tech companies would indirectly be dealing with.


Photo: Freepik / luis-molinero

Read next: Alexa, iPhone, PlayStation: Tech Adverts Reimagined in 60s Style

Wikimedia is taking steps to improve the safety of its female and LGBTQ volunteers

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Toxic behavior and harassment have been a grave concern lingering over the heads of females in general, and the LGBTQ community especially for a long time now. Add them to the cyber world, and the issue of harassment and condemn just skyrockets to no bounds.

Recently, Wikimedia announced several new measures to provide security from cyberbullying and harassing situations in the work environment that females and LGBTQ community members face.

There have been increasing complaints from females and LGBTQ volunteers that they are facing toxic behavior from the editor community around.

Also, there are several studies from the University of Washington and the New York Times, which highlight this valid and critical concern. It has been brought to the notice through these studies that many female editors and LGBTQ members fear for their safety, and do not find the work environment healthy and protective in any way. There are instances of increased bullying and all sorts of discriminating behaviors that affect their mental, emotional, and even physical wellbeing.

Some editors have also come forward to tell how insecure their male counterparts often get and how the work of female editors is often contested by male editors, which usually causes them to receive negative feedback or straightaway rejection.

Things have gone so bad for some transgender editors and volunteers on Wikipedia that they have even received death threats!

Now, the company behind Wikipedia is Wikimedia, and it has come up with several new measures to combat this situation and help its female employees and transgender volunteers on their platform. The company’s board of trustees has voted on some methods and steps that will be finalized by the end of this year.

The company is planning to implement these changes in two steps. First, there will a formal treaty and signed consent regarding the current rules and regulations about how editors behave with each other and about their general interactions.

Secondly, the company is going to make sure that these rules are not broken but will also ensure serious ramifications in case they are not taken care of by the employees.

Wikimedia is not the only company that has taken some steps to address this crucial problem. Recently, YouTube has also announced to introduce some new features to help control the hateful comments and cyber-harassment aimed especially towards the LGBTQ community.

A famous YouTuber has recently elaborated on the various ways he and his community become targets of extreme hatred, bordering to posing an imminent threat to their privacy and safety.

So, YouTube is now letting these YouTubers to limit the reach of their videos and content especially meant for their communities, so they do not receive hateful comments from other people.

Secondly, these YouTubers are going to get a feature through which they can hold the comments from the viewers for manual reviewing. In that way, they can filter whatever junk they can before it all comes in front of the public.

And thirdly, YouTube is going to let these YouTubers to post their content on a specially designed platform of experienced reviewers before publishing their videos on their channels.

So, it is good to know that these tech apps and sites are taking this concern very seriously and trying to find ways to help their community members as much as possible.



Read next: 7 Types of Online Harassment to Watch Out For [Infographic]

Here Are Some of the Challenges Organizations Face in Their Content Marketing Strategies

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Content creation is the sort of aspect that pretty much every major brand is trying to take part in, and a big part of the reason why that is the case has to do with the fact that there are a lot of benefits to doing things like this many of which have quite a bit to do with the various ways in which content can help a specific organization get more out of the kind of goals they have set for themselves.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, it is also important to note that you can’t just make content randomly. Instead, you would need some kind of strategy that can help you along the way. Planning things out in this manner would ensure that no matter what happens there will always be content that one can rely on, and the current pandemic that has made it impossible to create new content without putting people in danger is one prime example of why creating a content strategy is so important, and a recent report from Content Marketing Institute has outlined some of the challenges that big businesses might end up facing in this regard.

A big obstacle to the creation of a good content strategy is likely going to be the leadership of the organization. A survey has revealed that around half of people that are struggling in this field generally feel this way because of the fact that the leaders of their organization aren’t prioritizing this, setting aside funds for it or perhaps they simply don’t understand why and how something like this could be so important which can make it impossible for any real organization to get a good content management strategy off the ground and up and running.
"Nearly half (45%) were delivering on customer experience and 50% felt their ability to connect with audiences via insightful content was the top factor contributing to their success; however, many reported a lack of efficient processes for managing and scaling that content."
A general lack of processes is also seen to be a pretty big obstacle all in all. After all, you can’t expect to make anything of value if there aren’t adequate processes put in place in order to make sure that this value is obtained in a way that would be truly sustainable. As a result of the fact that these obstacles are in their way, content marketers are unable to focus on researching what the best kind of content is, something that could genuinely help them create an accurate strategy in this regard.


Instead, they are conducting audits of content that the organization has already put out and making lists and the like in this regard. This is important work but the fact of the matter is that in some ways content marketers are not being utilized properly and this is slowing their work down.

While it is true that a lot of larger organizations have started to take the creation of content a great deal more seriously than might have been the case otherwise, it is also true that they are facing a lot of problems in implementing their content strategies. Leadership taking a more active role in the matter as well as the creation of adequate processes that will help make content creation more systematic are both things that can prove to be quite helpful in this regard and should be taken seriously.



Read next: A Guide To How Google’s Knowledge Graph Works

29 Psychological mind games and marketing hacks unveiled (infographic)

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Marketers use various approaches to increase their sales all the time. But did you know how they play with your mind while selling their products?

Some of these interesting insights into successful marketers’ strategies unveiled by TitleMax are as follows:

If you reduce the left digit by one and write $3.99 instead of $4, you will be able to play with the psyche of a customer. It naturally happens that although, figuratively there is not much difference, yet when we see the price written like this, we subconsciously think that the difference is huge!

Focus on syllables when you are pricing your items. Psychologically, although people do not say the prices in the form of words and syllables, however, it has been noticed that prices with shorter phonetic syllables are perceived as cheap, despite them being higher! $2782 (Twenty-seven-eighty-two) has more syllables as compared to $2816 (Twenty-eight-sixteen), therefore, the customers tend to reach for the latter price more than the former, although it is higher!

Researchers have found that a comma makes the price look higher than it actually is. For example, $1699 looks cheaper than $1,699.

A well-designed, maze-like, and well-planned shop that follows the principle of Victor Gruen makes the customers go through each aisle and every section of the shop.

According to some researches, a subtle touch of a female salesperson and salespersons mimicking the gestures of the customer are likely to improve the chances of sales!

Words related to a small amount are more preferred by customers.

Prices shown in installments instead of as a lump sum are more likely to engage the customers.

Breaking the price to a small daily equivalence makes the product seem more affordable.

Customers are more likely to choose something with its price ending with an odd number that is right under an even whole number, like $2.97.

The visual contrast between the original and the sale price can make the sale price look more appealing.

Statements that create a false sense of urgency like “Limited stock,” or “Only two sets left” are more likely to make the customers forget their careful planning and rush to buy!


Maximizing the perceived size of the discount by putting large discount numbers on display also wins more customers.

Ditching the dollar sign while pricing things often helps with more sales.

By phasing out discounts and make the customers believe that if they miss another day of sale, they might not get any discount at all, merchandisers play the “disappointment” card to improve their business.

Targeting the millennials especially to nostalgia factor often works in favor of the marketers.

Men are more likely to buy something when its price is mentioned in “red.”

Focus on emotions rather than money!

Make your product appear difficult in manufacturing, and this psychologically justifies even a high price in the customer’s mind.

Put the “before price” of the retailers and the “after price” of your shop to lure more customers if it is legal in your country.

Employ the method of decoy pricing to improve the sales of the highest priced product.

Calm and slow music in the shops and restaurants makes the customers want to spend more time there.

Another extension of the Gruen Factor is to put all the staple items at the back of the shop, making the customers go all the way at the back while exploring everything else on the way.

Put up a bright, colorful, and cheerful entrance to the shop.

By employing arbitrary coherence, you can include an expensive item alongside a less expensive item. This will improve the sale of that cheaper item more.

Buy One Get One Free offers often compel the customers to end up paying more than intended.

Complimentary reviews, testimonials, and social proof play an important role in marketing.

Expose the customers to higher prices even if the products are completely unrelated.



Read next: Terms of Services - A Section Often Ignored Because of Its Length (infographic)

Improve your social media presence by choosing the right image size on your profiles with this infographic guide

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Appropriate branding is as important for your business as much as your product is, especially on social media in recent times.

Even if your profile picture is not visually powerful, it can make you come across as unprofessional or someone who does not know about the basics of online business and marketing.

Therefore, the team at ConstantContact has compiled an image size guide to help improve your social media presence this year.

For Facebook marketing, your profile picture, or a brand logo must be at least 180x180 pixels large.

To avoid the cover photo look all stretched out, it should be at 820x312 pixels.

Images shared in a post should be of 1200x630 pixels.

An added tip is that it is recommended to use your company logo as your profile picture and use a cover photo that tells about your brand eloquently.

For Instagram, profile images that appear on the home page are at 110x110 pixels. While Image thumbnails on the profile are at 161x161 pixels.

Individual uploads that are square-shaped are sized as 1080x1080 pixels, while those images that are rectangular shaped should use a 4:5 ratio.

For Instagram Stories, it is advised to use the resolution of 1080x1920 pixels or the aspect ratio of 9:16.

Coming to Pinterest, the profile image that appears on the homepage is sized at 165x165 pixels.

Pins sized at 236 pixels appear on the main page or a board. On expansion, Pins reach a minimum width of 600 pixels, while the height of the image scales proportionally. It is also recommended that when you are creating a Pinterest board, choose a thumbnail image that is both enticing and relevant for your particular board.

The recommended image aspect ratio for Pins is 2:3.

For Twitter, the recommended size of the profile picture is 400x400 pixel square, even though it will appear as a circle.

Your header photo must be at 1500x500 pixels.

The photos that are attached in your Tweets on expansion must have a maximum of 1024x512 pixels and a minimum of 440x220 pixels.

It is always recommended using images that represent you and your business in the best possible way and the image placement must be done carefully to avoid awkward cropping instances.


For the YouTube channel profile picture, it is better to use your company logo or brand logo, sized best at 800x800 pixels.

For thumbnails in your videos, the images must be at 1280x720 pixels.

Cover photos on YouTube are large, best at 2560x1440 pixels. However, it is strongly recommended to use the YouTube channel’s art tool to adjust and crop your cover image before publishing it.

If LinkedIn is your medium of marketing, make sure that your company logo image is of at least 300x300 pixels.

The company business background image that covers the entire top of the page must be around 1536x768 pixels.

While the images that are shared in a post should have a size of 1200x630 pixels.

Always remember that LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networks in the world, and it is imperative to create highly relevant posts to engage with the audience. You must focus on building solid relationships with industry leaders and sourcing employees.

Hopefully, this detailed guide will help many marketers improve their social media presence this year.

[Infographic] 2020 Social Media Image Sizes Cheat Sheet

Read next: Facebook shares new set of tips to make social media posts accessible and easy to read by everyone

30+ Essential Video Marketing Stats That Content Marketers Should Know (infographic)

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It’s strange to think that just a few years ago video was something truly expensive so much so that only rich corporations could hope to advertise using them at all, and a few years before that moving pictures simply did not exist. Now video based marketing is so affordable and effective that pretty much everyone is taking part in it, from big corporations to small businesses and even individual influencers and content creators all of whom know that videos are the key to connecting to an audience if that is what you might be trying to do all in all.

With all of that having been said and out of the way, if you want your video marketing to be successful then you are going to have to learn about the statistics associated with this industry. We have a range of stats that you are going to want to pay attention to.

Firstly, in just a few years time, about 82% of all online traffic is going to be based on videos so you can imagine just how essential this medium has become so much so that the vast majority of internet usage is going to revolve around it. If you look at how many companies are using videos in their marketing campaigns, the number has grown drastically in just a few years.

Back in 2017 only about 63% of companies were using video marketing. In just a year the number jumped all the way to 81%, and there was further growth by 2019 when the percentage came up to 87%. It’s fair to say that if not this year then by next year virtually all companies would be using video marketing in their campaigns which means that this style of marketing is going to end up becoming far more popular than ever before.

Business to consumer marketing involves social media posts both with and without video about 96% of the time, but video marketing itself comes in second with 76%, something that shows just how vital something like this can be for you and it just goes to show why so many people are starting their careers in this field at this current point in time.

Take a look at this infographic (which comes courtesy of Omni Core Agency) for more insights.

Essential Video Marketing Stats That Content Marketers Should Look At (infographic)

Read next: Survey Reveals 9 In 10 Consumers Buy From Brands They Follow On Social Media Platforms
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