Facebook Updates Insights, Photo Comments and Emoticons

Facebook keeps coming with the news and we've got a triple dose today with an Insights makeover, photo comments and emoticons.

Insights

First off, Facebook is giving their analytics dashboard, Insights, a refresh with a clean and simple design that promises to also be more intelligible. According to Mashable, “Stats that were previously rolled in together (i.e., “People Talking About This”) have been broken down into separate charts that allow Page owners to individually measure the reach and engagement (likes, comments, clicks and shares) of individual posts. Additional charts make it easier for users to see what kinds of posts — say, those with videos, or ones targeted to certain groups — have better reach or more positive engagement than others.”

Demographic data will also be further broken down to allow you to understand who's engaging with your content. Mashable notes that this refresh is only available to a small group of beta testers currently and a full roll-out is expected at a later date.

Photo Comments

Moving on, Facebook also released Photo Comments today. This new feature allows you to reply to a status update with an image. According to PCMag.com, “The social network began rolling out a new camera button that lets you reply to status updates with an image.” PCMag.com further reports that, “users of Facebook's mobile apps will be able to view photo comments but won't be able to post them from the app just yet. Facebook did not specify when the ability to post photo comments would be available from its apps.” Facebook engineers hope this feature will help make threads more expressive and engaging.

Emoticons

Lastly, if you've ever wished you could add a cutesy emoticon to your status, your dreams have been realized. Facebook is giving you the ability to add an icon showing what you're feeling, reading, watching, or eating when you post from an iPhone. PCMag.com states, “The emoticons come as part of an update Facebook rolled out Tuesday for its iOS app that also brings new privacy and messaging options. The social network initially introduced status update icons back in April to the Web version of Facebook.”

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