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Facebook Launches New App Called ‘Forecast’

Another Facebook surprise! Facebook has announced the launch of a new app that nobody has ever thought of before. “Forecast” is the new Facebook app, not like all other the apps and features Facebook has previously rolled out.

Today, the NPE team from Facebook is announcing an invite-only beta for Forecast, a community centered around crowdsourced predictions. A platform for predictions and forecasting everything. Interesting, isn’t it?

Keep up with me to know what exactly the new Forecast app is and what is the purpose if its emergence.

What is Forecast, by the way?

As Facebook has officially explained itself:

“Forecast is a place to ask questions and use in-app points to make predictions about the future. All questions are submitted by the community and then moderated for clarity, using Forecast’s moderation guidelines and Facebook’s Community Standards.”

So, we can assume that Forecast is a place for debates and opinions. People can guess what comes next. The questions in Forecast, first need to be approved by the moderators and then will be shown to users.

Since the app is still in its Beta mode, it will be limited to users in the US and Canada for now.

Source: www.socialmediatoday.com

What can we do on Forecast?

We are all humans, and our nature makes us very curious creatures. People are increasingly searching for information to help them understand what the world might look like tomorrow, next month, and beyond. Forecast is there to help us with this need. With Forecast we can:

Ask questions on the topics you care about
make predictions about the future
Learn from the community of forecasters
Share knowledge, and encourage discussion among peers

How to join Forecast?

As mentioned previously, Forecast is now being tested and is now globally rolled out. But you can be one of the users to test the app now if you are excited.

All you have to do is to join the waitlist by requesting access to Forecast Beta Testers Facebook group and the try to download the app.

Run Instagram Ads without a Facebook Ad Account Connection

Good news for social media marketers, business or brand owners, and the whole Instagram user community. There is no need to link to a Facebook account and use the Facebook ad manager to run ads on Instagram anymore!

Today, Instagram has officially announced a piece of great news, which relieved most of the advertisers from having to link their Instagram to face boon in order to run a simple ad. Advertising on Instagram is now much easier.

However, there is a point to be noted here that these options are only available to brands and creators that have not previously promoted posts. This does not mean that the users who had previously run ad campaigns cannot create ads anymore. If you’ve already promoted posts on Instagram, you’ve most likely already linked your Instagram and Facebook accounts and won’t have the option to disconnect the Instagram profile from the Facebook Page but will still be able to run ads.

Here is what Instagram has to say about the new option in their support center:

“You can now create Instagram ads without having a presence on Facebook. If you are promoting a post from your Instagram business account for the first time, you won’t have to connect to a Facebook ad account or Facebook Page.

At this time, you can’t connect your Instagram account to a Facebook ad account. You’ll be able to manage your ad campaign and track ad performance on Instagram. You won’t need to manage your Instagram ads on Facebook Ads Manager. “

How to promote posts on Instagram without connecting to the Facebook ad manager?

To use the new Instagram independent advertising, follow the steps below.

Go to your profile
Choose the post you are willing to promote
Find “Promote” at the bottom of the post
Choose your preferences and set the desired settings and goals for the ad. Things such as ‘Destination’ (where to send people), ‘Audience’ (who you want to reach), ‘Budget’ (how much you want to spend daily), and ‘Duration’ (how long you want your promotion to run). Tap ‘Next’ once you’ve completed these details
‘Create Promotion’ under ‘Review,’ and you are done.

So, if you have a business account and are willing to promote posts, you can now run ads like never before without having to be a Facebook user anymore. Thanks to Instagram, the ad campaign is now independent of Facebook.

Another Facebook Acquisition: Mappilary, the mapping startup

Facebook, which is well-known for buying startups and popular platforms, has made another move and has acquired a new firm. Jan Erik Solem, CEO, and co-founder of street-level mapping startup Mapillary has announced that their firm is now a part of Facebook and has entered the long list of Facebook acquisitions.

There are no official announcements of the acquisition price yet, but that must have been a good one.

The Acquisition became official in a blog post, and after Jan Eric, the CEO of Mappilary announced it in a statement which is brought to you below:

“We’re excited to share that Mapillary has joined Facebook to be part of their open mapping efforts,” Solem wrote. “As some of you know, Facebook is building tools and technology to improve maps through a combination of machine learning, satellite imagery, and partnerships with mapping communities, as part of their mission to bring the world closer together.”

What Is Mappilary, after all?

Lots of you did not hear about Mapillary before this news. No worries I am going to tell you what it is and how it works.

Mappilarry is a Swedish mapping startup that is creating a world-wide street-level imagery platform to allow everyone to get the imagery and data they need to make better maps.

Mapillary intends to create a platform of users who wish to make the world accessible to everyone by visualizing the world and building better maps. There are no limits for who can join the network, and anyone can collect street-level images, using tools like their smartphones or action cameras.

What about customers and commercial uses?

As explained by Jan Eric, the CEO, these maps support products such as Facebook Marketplace and supply data to humanitarian organizations.

The Acquisition does not make any difference in Mapillary’s functions, and users can still upload imagery which will forever stay Free and open for everyone, as clarified by Jan Eric:

“The plan is for the rights given to OpenStreetMap editors to remain unchanged and for our work with OpenStreetMap communities and companies to continue on the same path as always,” he wrote.

By joining Facebook, Mapillary moves “closer to the vision” it has had from day one of offering a free service to anyone.

Overall, Facebook has undoubtedly made another great Acquisition, which would soon be even more popular than before and helps people all over the world to build out a highly detailed street level map of the world together, like never before.