Watch out Google & TripAdvisor, Facebook Reviews are on the Rise | Social You Should Know

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This week we see Facebook challenging the likes of review sites, YouTube adding community-oriented features to drive engagement and minimize trolls & inappropriate comments, and social media sites threaten Google in terms of product research, all of this, in this week’s Social You Should Know.

Facebook Takes On Review Sites

While it may seem like Google and review sites like TripAdvisor have a stronghold on reviews, Facebook is going head-to-head with them. Recent data from the 2015 Social Recommendations Index showed that Facebook Reviews are growing 4x faster than other review sites. Facebook is trying to capitalize on this momentum by also introducing new features for reviews, including Professional Service listings, friend-based recommendations, and direct transactions (bringing partnerships like Ticketmaster, Delivery.com, and Eventbrite), to further cement this position.

YouTube Gives Tools to Recognize Advocates and Fight Trolls

YouTube comments have been a notorious breeding grounds for trolls. As a solution to this, YouTube has updated the comments section with new features for community managers. Now, community managers can pin comments to the top of the thread, helping the community focus on comments that are particularly helpful, insightful, humorous, or appreciated. There is also the option to “heart” a comment to show appreciation, or blacklist certain words and phrases to minimize inappropriate comments. Nice move, YouTube.

Product Research on Social Media is On the Rise

Gone are the days where Google search dominated the realm of product research. Recent GlobalWebIndex data shows product research on social media is on the rise, up almost 10% from mid-2015.  For 16-24 year olds, social networks are only 6 percentage points behind search engines for product research. If you aren’t currently viewing your social networks with search in mind, it’s time you do.

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