Weekly Comms News Round Up 24/10/2013

It’s been an interesting week in the world of comms news. Facebook was forced to pull out decapitation video off the site following a worldwide boycott and pressure from David Cameron. Facebook and LinkedIn both experienced outages which interestingly turned into a marketing opportunity for some brands. Read my pick of top comms stories curated via @CisionUK.

Facebook makes U-turn over decapitation video clip by @LeoKelion via The BBC
Facebook has removed a video clip showing a woman’s decapitation and issued new rules about what can be shared on its site.

The U-turn comes two days after it was revealed the firm had dropped a ban on clips showing extreme violence. The BBC understands that Facebook did this in July after issuing new guidance to staff, but did not think the public would be interested to know. The British prime minister has accused the firm of being “irresponsible”. 

50 people you have to know if you work in marketing or advertising by @prchief via The Wall Blog
Propeller, the specialist in PR for media, marketing and digital businesses, today reveals its inaugural list of its ‘Meet the Influencers’ series as it compiles the Top 50 Marketing and Advertising Influencers of 2013, developed in conjunction with PR software provider, Cision.

BBC to Run Original Video Clips in Paid Tweets by @ToddWasserman via Mashable
The BBC will capitalize on Twitter’s Amplify program by offering video clips within paid tweets, according to a report.

The BBC.com has created short videos dubbed “#BBCTrending” that will appear in users’ Twitter streams this fall, according to AdAge. Representatives from BBC could not be reached for comment, but a Twitter rep confirmed the report. The videos will be distributed via the UK network’s @BBCWorld account, which has 4.8 million Twitter followers. That reach will be amplified with ad buys.

When Facebook Was Down, Brands Pounced by @sfiegerman via Mashable
Facebook experienced widespread service disruptions for much of Monday morning, which prevented users from posting and engaging with posts on the social network. While the outage may have been a headache for Facebook and many users, some brands decided to turn it into a marketing opportunity — for better or worse.

Writing Great Headlines on Twitter, Facebook, and your Blog by @LeoWid via The Next Web
Ever since we started Buffer a little over two years ago, people have been asking us about one question very specifically: How can I write great headlines for social networks and my blog?

The topic is a very tricky one, as the accuracy for what works best is hard to nail down. Whilst we have some specific techniques that we are using for our own postings and article headlines every day, I thought looking at the most cutting edge research is definitely required.

Viral highlights: amazing optical illusions to blow your mind by @theQuiggler via The Wall Blog
Optical illusions are a bit of a running theme in the marketing world this week, with both Honda and Ray Ban releasing ads featuring awesome visual tricks. When brands partner up with YouTubers it’s usually a winning viral combination and the marriage of a UGC fandom with a commercial ad campaign has certainly worked wonders for Ray Ban.