January
Instagram added GIF stickers which can be added to videos and images in Stories
L’Oreal Paris became the first brand to include a hijab-wearing model
Facebook started demoting brand content in users’ News Feeds
February
KFC showed brands how to use social media to deal with a crisis during their chicken shortage
Twitter began partnering with news stations to live stream broadcasts during major breaking news events
Pepsi Co were reportedly developing ‘Lady Doritos’ and the internet was not happy about it
March
Snapchat shares dropped by $1bn after criticism from Rhianna
The world’s favourite professional social media site, LinkedIn, turned 15
Brewdog missed the mark with Pink IPA for International Women’s Day
April
Whetherspoons bucked the trend and quit all their social media accounts
Mark Zuckerberg faced US Congress on Captiol Hill
Instagram joined Twitter and eBay and abandoned Apple Watch
May
Prince Harry got married and a LOT of brands jumped onboard the gravy train
An American woman scored a job at Spotify after launching a social media campaign, website, and custom playlist
Childish Gambino released ‘This is America’ and went viral, amassing 100 million hits in just 9 days
June
Shell released a heart-warming campaign as Saudi Arabia lifted the ban on women’s driving licenses
Nike won the first ever Grand Prix prize for the Social & Influencer category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
IHOP’s ‘IHOB’ PR stunt fell flat and got mocked by Netflix and Burger King
July
Kylie Jenner was named on Forbes’ rich-list, showing how profitable social media can be
Twitter purged millions of fake accounts, leaving Katy Perry with 2.8million less followers
The ABCD emoji was named most unpopular emoji, stealing the crown from the aerial tramway
August
Facebook and Instagram introduced new time limit tool to help users spend less time online
Instagram offered all users the chance to get that coveted blue badge if they’re a ‘notable public figure’
Apple shares hit $207.05, making it the world’s first ever trillion-dollar public company
September
Twitter brought back chronological timeline after huge demand
A fishmonger in Kuwait was busted on social media for sticking googly eyes onto fish
Unilad went under the HMRC microscope as they face insolvency proceedings
October
Blackpool police made Friends with David Schwimmer on social media after being faced with a lookalike thief
Google announced the end of Google+ following a security exposure
Snapchat listened to the masses and have introduced filters for cats
November
Iceland revealed that their Christmas ad had been banned and the internet stepped in
Channel 4 signed a deal with Facebook to broadcast a weekly news show
A £50 Christmas ad went viral and stole John Lewis’ festive thunder
December
O2’s data went down and Twitter had a good laugh at it
Facebook said it could predict the future
The annual ‘top 9’ Instagram posts tradition continued
2019
Whilst no one can predict the ups and downs of social media in 2019, we’ll be here every Friday bringing you the latest news, updates, and viral posts throughout the next year. Keep an eye on our blog here.
