It’s hard to believe, but we’re only weeks away from the end of the first quarter of 2017! Now that we’re well on our way into the “New Year”, how are your social media plans going? Have you tried something new? If so, how are you measuring for success? We might be early in the year, but if you’re hoping to track trends now is the time to capture metrics from January and February before the details slip away from you. And if you need help, your friends at CenterTable are at the ready! In the meantime, we’ve pulled together some highlights in social media news this week.

CNBC: Teens Explain How To Really Use Snapchat and Instagram, And Why Facebook Still Matters
Turns out teen-to-teen conversation is happening on Snapchat; Instagram is where teens are connecting with friends and family; and “formal” messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger are reserved for communicating with adults. Get these and other “aha” moments from real teens thanks to a survey mostly conducted by text message.

The Sociable: A Guide to Chatbots For Small Businesses

As our team prepares to head out to South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) this week, it’s becoming pretty clear that we’ll be hearing a lot about chatbots in Austin. Wondering what a chatbot is and how it might work for you? This helpful article is worth the read.

Entrepreneur: Instagram Rolls Out Stories Ads to All Businesses

Full screen ads in Stories on Instagram have arrived, and all businesses have access. This is a pretty exciting announcement, and thanks to creating ads in Facebook’s Ad Manager or Power Editor you’ll be able to get the same insights and stats as with any other Facebook or Instagram campaign.

Time: 5 Hidden Snapchat Tricks You Need to Know

There are always new tricks being added to Snapchat and this article shares five tips you might not be aware of. Did you know that Snapchat offers a night mode? Or that you can add more than one filter to a single snap? Mind blown. Read on for more tricks!

Mashable: Twitter Pays Close Attention to Your Favorite Tweets, Even if You Don’t Tell it What You Like

Wondering how Twitter feeds you “best tweets” and “in case you missed it” content? It cares where you click, but also what you’re reading and for how long. While this isn’t particularly surprising news, it is pretty interesting from an algorithm standpoint and this article is worth the read.

Business Insider: How to Use Pinterest’s Cool New Feature as a Visual Search Engine For The World Around You

It’s still in beta, but this overview of how Pinterest’s Lens feature works is great. Imagine pointing your camera at something in real life, and Pinterest serving you up similar items. This honest review reveals that Lens still has some work to do, but when it’s ready for prime time it’s going to be cool!

On the Blog:

• Two Takeaways From Study on Consumer Buying Habits and Influencer Marketing – Alexis Anderson shares her learnings about the impact of influencer marketing on consumers. 

Project Highlight:

Saint Joseph Hospital | 1st Anniversary Infographic – Saint Joseph Hospital asked CenterTable to design an infographic highlighting milestones from the first full year in their new hospital. The graphic was displayed in the atrium of the hospital and on social media.