Twitter removes 140 character limit on Direct Messages, adds App Targeting and Block Lists (Empower Mondays)

Twitter removes 140 character Limit on Direct Messages: As of July, the 140-character limit to DMs on the platform is being removed. Useful from a customer service point of view and gives Twitter a competitive advantage in terms of being able to transition users from a lightweight sub-140 character interaction to a more in-depth service within the same platform.

Facebook Expands Its ‘Buy Now’ Functionality: Facebook have launched a partnership with Shopify in the US (the tech which is powering its ‘Buy Now in Facebook’ buttons) expanding to a new tranche of retailers.

First ‘Game’ Launched For Facebook Messenger: Facebook Messenger’s quest to own all the ways you connect with friends is now expanding to games. The Doodle Draw Game is now in the Messenger platform app list and Facebook says this is the first true game available since the platform launched in April.

Tumblr Launches AMA Service: “This is Answer Time” allows Tumblr users to ask musicians, artists, actors, politicians, and internet personalities exactly whatever you want to ask them. They’ll be answering right on their Tumblrs and it promises to be a little bonkers in the best possible way.

Medium Launches Newsletter Service: As an editor, you’ll see a new option in the dropdown on your publication page called “Letters.” When you send your Letter, not only will it be delivered to all the inboxes of your followers, but it will also be published as a post in your publication — consumable by anyone on the web and in our iOS app.

Twitter Launches App-install Ad Targeting: Twitter’s now going to let advertisers on mobile target ads at users based on the sort of apps they have on their phone. Empower have already started using this with one mobile client, so we’ll keep you updated on how this increases performance of their Twitter ads.

Follow Conversations Easier On Twitter: Twitter launched a new feature designed to make users of the Twitter web product find it easier to follow the branching threads of a conversation sparked by a Tweet.

Twitter Introduces Block Lists: As part of its drive to stop trolls, Twitter now gives users the opportunity to mass-block other users by using a block lists function. You can now see the list of people blocked by certain users and use it to automatically add the same people to your own block list in one click.

Instagram Changes Its Web View: Redesigned Instagram profiles, feeds and hashtag pages to be cleaner and faster.

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