With this update, Google offers its users a holistic view of a business’ products or services. A distinct section dubbed as ‘Social Media Updates’ houses the social posts pulled from digital platforms. This feature comes as a boon for businesses seeking improvement in customer engagement, providing them an invaluable opportunity to unleash the power of social networks on their Google Business listings. Along with amplifying brand credibility, businesses can also seamlessly connect with potential customers, showcase their offering in a wholesome manner and ultimately attract traffic to their websites.

This update succeeds the announcement of social links debuting on Google Business Profiles in October 2023. Though Google experimented with adding social media links to Business Profiles way back in 2016, the feature was later stalled, thanks to discrepancies in matching the social URLs with the right profile  – a plausible reason why Google didn’t create a stir with the rollout of the social media post integration.  Doing away with the official announcement, Google stealthily slid titbits about this update into the FAQ section of their ‘Manage Social Media Link’ page (https://support.google.com/business/answer/13580646#zippy=%2Cwhy-does-my-social-media-post-show-on-my-business-profile ).

This news made rounds on the platform X after a user, Stefan Somborac spotted this feature and took to the platform. He wrote, “If you’ve added your social media URLs to your Google Business Profile, Google may start to display your social posts on your Business Profile!”

So, how do businesses make the most of this opportunity? To get the ball rolling, your company’s digital platforms must be connected to GBP. Google provides businesses with the option of including one link per social media platform among Instagram, Facebook, X (Twitter rechristened), LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok.  As of now, Threads and SnapChat have been excluded from this list but it would be worth waiting to see when they will make their grand entry into the Google family.

Once the social media association is successful on Google Business Profile, recent posts from the brand’s social network will begin to automatically surface on Google Search and Google Maps along with your company’s official listing. Currently, social media posts can be found only on the mobile version under the business information.

Here’s how you can add, edit and remove social media links:

For adding:

1. Navigate to your Business Profile.
2. Click on “Edit profile” > “Business information” > “Contact.”
3. Choose “Social profiles” > “Add social media link.”
4. Select the social media platform and input the link.
5. Hit “Save.”

For editing:

1. After accessing your business profile, click on “Edit profile” > “Business information” > “Contact.”
2. Choose “Social profiles.”
3. Modify the web address field for the social media link that you wish to update.
4. Hit “Save.”

For removing:

1. In your Business Profile, click on “Edit profile” > “Business information” > “Contact.”
2. In “Social profiles,” click the trash icon next to the profile you want to remove.
3. Click “Save.”

If you are a business looking to enhance your digital presence, then this is a sign that it’s the right time to do so.  Look no further than Social Krowd to amp up your social media game!

To know more, send us an enquiry on https://www.socialkrowd.me/contact-us/send-inquiry

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Trained on an expansive dataset comprising 6 trillion corpus of words, math and code, Gemma is packaged in two sizes – 2B and 7B, catering to varied scopes and scales of AI initiatives. While the primary aim of the model is to support developers and researchers through enhanced overall functionality, it focuses on simplicity and responsible design. Suitable for smaller tasks such as creation of a basic chatbot to text summarization across domains, Gemma takes accessibility to a whole new level.

The model handles tasks related to language such as weaving captivating narratives and generating language translation through its extensive vocabulary of 250,000 tokens. Gemma differs significantly from Gemini, beginning from the fact that is a text-to-text model as opposed to a multimodal model. In terms of computational efficiency, Gemma has already clinched the title of being the best performing open-source LLMs.

A deeper analysis of Gemma will reveal that it is drastically ahead of its competitors such as Meta’s Llama 2 in key areas such as churning out human-style answers to questions, solving math, performing tasks requiring inference and coding.

The pretrained model upholds safety through a range of automated data filtering techniques, abiding by Google’s ethical policies of generating responsible outputs. The model is capable of screening out sensitive information from its training sets through fine-tuned algorithms, thus introducing a principled dimension to artificial intelligence. Gemma has also been subjected to a host of robust assessments before getting the thumbs-up. Manual red-teaming, capability evaluation and adversarial testing were a few of the internal evaluation processes that were performed on Gemma to identify potential harms and formulate techniques for risk mitigation.

Apart from being run on laptops, the model can be incorporated on workstations and even on Google Cloud with integration into Vertex AI – Google’s in-house suite of tools for model deployment and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), the tech giant’s open source container management and orchestration platform. What’s more, you ask? Unlike Google’s previous AI brainchildren, Gemma is lightweight and does not rely on data centers attached to expensive servers for its operations.

Unveiling a new AI model seldom comes devoid of challenges. One of the key challenges associated with Gemma is combating misuse while maintaining the fine line between transparency and caution.  As Google commented in one of its blog posts, “While we are optimistic about the potential of AI, we recognise that advanced technologies can raise important challenges that must be addressed clearly, thoughtfully, and affirmatively. These AI Principles describe our commitment to developing technology responsibly and work to establish specific application areas we will not pursue.”

Alongside Gemma’s foray into the AI space, Google has also launched a new Responsible Generative AI Toolkit. This toolkit not only offers guidance on safety classification and model debugging but also comes with a booklet outlining the best practices in developing responsible AI.

The post Gemma: Google’s Latest Offering in the AI Market first appeared on Social Krowd.

Think technology trends or artificial intelligence, ChatGPT is most probably the first word that strikes you. This is where the social media giant, Meta who has just shaken up the world of AI, would like you to think again! Mark Zuckerberg recently unveiled Meta’s very own AI chatbot, Meta AI which is an ensemble of snazzy features integrated into its messaging platforms. The brand hopes to create magic and get second-time lucky with Meta AI, the successor of M, Meta’s short-lived digital assistant that did not quite make the cut.

Meta, which aspires to be the powerhouse of generative AI research, describes the chatbot as “your basic assistant that you can talk to like a person.” Well, not really ‘any’ person; in fact, you can choose from a roster of 28 AI-powered personas with a whole range of distinct characteristics, interests, opinions and backstories, which (wait for it) are embodied by real-life celebrities such as Naomi Osaka, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg and the likes.

Imagine waking up in the morning to have Kendall Jenner sliding into your DMs to plan an itinerary for your upcoming trip or dish out beauty tips to fight acne! All such conversations can be sparked via any of your preferred apps – WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger. Although Zuckerberg, in an interview, said that while celebrity chatbots run high on entertainment value, there are safety concerns such as consent issues and a dearth of control over the usage of their image and voice to propagate controversial ideas.  

Meta AI differs from Chat GPT in more ways than one, beginning with its collaboration with Microsoft’s search engine, Bing and being powered by its own large-language model, Llama2. The generative AI features churn out succinct answers to questions posed by the users by leveraging the power of Bing to sift through real-time data. Their technology is also capable of generating photorealistic images from text prompts through a new image model, Emu (Expressive Media Universe). As opposed to being a general-purpose chatbot like Open AI’s ChatGPT, Meta AI is customizable and provides users with a unique experience tailored to specific platforms. Though, as with ChatGPT, the answers served up are only as good as the prompts provided.

A beta rollout of the chatbot followed the launch of Meta’s Quest 3, the first mainstream mixed-reality headset, which allows one to blend the digital world with physical space. Fancy solving a Lego puzzle on your newly purchased coffee table? Snapping on Meta’s Quest 3 is all you need to do! The headset will help you seamlessly interact with virtual objects, immersing you in a world of mixed reality. Along with Quest 3, an array of other generative AI products – stickers, editing tools and artificial intelligence powered smart glasses debuted at Meta Connect 2023.

In collaboration with eyewear brand Essilor Luxottica, the Ray-Ban smart glasses are your window to the future of metaverse. The pioneering partnership unleashed a stylish and comfortable design along with advanced audio and cameras, offering a wide selection of over150 frame and lens variations. You can even livestream your experiences hands-free from the glasses to social media platforms, engaging with your community in immersive ways nobody dared to imagine.

Meta plans to notch the AI game up by introducing “whispering features”, an attribute that powers two-way communication and lets viewers whisper in the ears of the creator. What else is in store for the world? Meta has announced the launch of a sandbox tool that broadens access to generative AI tools and enables users to experiment, develop and test their own AI. Yes, you read that right! Innovation, indeed, knows no bounds in today’s times.

Though Open AI and Google may have had the early mover advantage in the realm of AI, owing to Meta’s scale and accessibility, it seems highly plausible that Meta AI would go down in history as the AI assistant used by a large majority of people across the world. 

The post Meta AI Goes Head-to-Head with ChatGPT first appeared on Social Krowd.

Earlier this month, WhatsApp rolled out their new feature, Channels, a one-way broadcast tool that houses updates from creators, organizations, celebrities and brands.

If you, like us, regularly toggle between the tabs of WhatsApp, you would surely have noticed that the Status tab is no longer called so. The rechristening of the tab to “Updates”, tapping on which leads you to Channels, did not happen overnight! In fact, Channels has now kicked off in over 180 countries including the UAE, succeeding its preliminary launch in Singapore and Columbia in the month of June.

According to WhatsApp’s parent company, Meta, the wider rollout was to occur only after building, learning and adapting the experience in specific markets. Following the success of Channel’s pilot test, users of 9 countries gained access to the tool within a month, and finally, September 2023 paved the way for the grand launch of the feature on a global scale. Through text, photos, videos, stickers and polls, Channels will focus on broadcasting information rather than sparking conversations. Users can gain access to a channel via invitation links sent in chats, e-mail or content shared online. Meta described their newest extension as “a simple, reliable and private way to receive important updates from people and organisations, right within WhatsApp”.

The one-to-many broadcasting tool aspires to be touted as the most private broadcast service available, outshining a similar feature of its competitor, Telegram. Earlier this year, WhatsApp’s sibling, Instagram introduced a feature akin to Channels called Broadcast Channels with the objective of reaching a broader set of audience.
Through Channels, the social juggernaut, Meta, is walking the extra mile in upholding user privacy by protecting the contact details of both the admins and followers of channels. While one can view the total number of followers of a channel, unlike other social media platforms, the following/follower details of a channel are not visible. The tool has also introduced provisions for admins to block screenshots and forwarding of messages from their channel and evaluate the eligibility of the users who can follow them. They are also offered the flexibility to edit their updates for up to a month. While channel history will not be sticking around forever, messages will have a lifespan of 30 days on Meta’s server. What’s more on the privacy front? Admins are able to decide whether their channels need to be discoverable in the directory or not.

Scrolling down Channel’s searchable directory lets you discover your favourite brands, celebrities, influencers, thought leaders, hobbies, passions and updates from local authorities. Amongst the A-listers who have hopped onto the Channels bandwagon are rapper Bad Bunny, David Guetta, Katrina Kaif, companies like Netflix, and sports teams like the Indian Cricket Team, Liverpool FC, Real Madrid and MLB.Users can filter channels based on countries and sift through channels that are new, most active, and popular. With the addition of Channels, your go-to-messaging app has just unlocked a novel and secure way for creators to engage with their followers. To cut to the chase, the app has now positioned itself as a platform for users to wolf down granular content updates and stay on top of things that they care about. Though followers aren’t offered the provision of replying or sending messages in a public channel, they can tap and hold a message to react with an emoji reaction, just the way they would in a regular WhatsApp chat.

2023, indeed, seems to be the ”Year of Updates” for WhatsApp, with Meta announcing the “edit within 15 minutes” option in May, followed by the Chat Lock feature, offering its users the capability to secure private messages by adding an additional layer of security. With the app’s user base exceeding two billion users, WhatsApp is all set to usher in a new era of content engagement in the digital world, with zero compromise on privacy.

The post WhatsApp Rolls out Channels! first appeared on Social Krowd.