Every two weeks, Vanguard distills hundreds of digital media headlines into the best “byte”- sized pieces of useful information. Each edition has news ranging from the latest Facebook algorithm changes to best practices for email marketing. Share Digital Bytes with your organization to keep your digital strategies ahead of the pack.

Digital Bytes

Instagram co-founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom announced that they are leaving Facebook this week. While they did not specify why, analysts think the pair may disagree with Facebook recently exerting more control over Instagram and integrating key features, like the ability to share Instagram Stories on Facebook. I don’t think anyone wants their Instagram experience to look more like Facebook, so let’s hope this leadership change doesn’t result in a major overhaul of the platform.

In other news …

• A new Pew Research Center study shows that 59 percent of teens have experienced cyberbullying. Girls are more likely to experience false rumors and receive explicit images as part of bullying.
• Facebook removed about a dozen hyperpartisan conservative and liberal pages that it discovered were owned by the same company and in violation of its spam policy.
• Do we really want to give Amazon access to our most basic habits, like microwaving food? In a new release of products, the company is now selling an Alexa-enabled microwave.
• Limiting screen time for children ages 8 to 11 can be difficult, since that is just about when they want to start using social media and smartphones. Research from the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health reinforces the importance of limiting screen time for tweens, reporting that “Children who use smartphones and other devices in their free time for less than two hours a day performed better on cognitive tests assessing their thinking, language and memory.”

Fun Resource

“LinkedIn is like the uncle who always comes to the family reunion with a great casserole, but you forget is there.” That’s a quote from an article taking a deep dive into the perfect format for a LinkedIn post. The verdict? Text-only posts are the most successful.

Finally …

Do Facebook Likes still matter? That is the subject of a Social Media Today article which dives into why Facebook Likes mean little in terms of how many people actually see your posts or remember your brand. But, there aren’t great alternatives on Facebook unless you have a healthy budget for paid advertising.