Twitter’s redesign slammed, Netflix buckles on suicide scene, and Google offers search insights

Also: Emails with visuals grab more eyeballs, an editing session goes awry, and Boeing’ struggles despite name change.

By Beki Winchel
@bekiweki
July 16, 2019

Good morning, PR pros:

Fifty years ago today, the Apollo 11 astronauts began their trip to the moon—and NASA is celebrating.

Wake up- it's launch day. Today in 1969, the Apollo 11 crew got up around 4 a.m. and began preparing for their flight. They had a 9:32 a.m. rocket to catch. #Apollo50th pic.twitter.com/0xIIJSH7t9

— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) July 16, 2019

What journey will you begin today? How will you commemorate your organization’s heritage and triumphs?

Here are today’s top stories:

Twitter users criticize redesign

On Monday, Twitter rolled out changes to its platform for desktop. The new design is similar to Twitter’s mobile version, with features such as “Explore” and dark mode.

Woah, what’s this? A shiny new https://t.co/q4wnE46fGs for desktop? Yup. IT’S HERE. pic.twitter.com/8y4TMzqBGa

— Twitter (@Twitter) July 15, 2019

It didn’t take long for Twitter users to pile on the announcement with criticism and snark:

Twitter will redesign the entire site and make it ugly, but won’t give us an edit button

— quig (@realQuig) July 16, 2019

Why it matters: Ignore your online audience at your own peril. Twitter might have cherry-picked tweets to showcase in its redesign announcement, but social media’s interactivity served Twitter’s marketing team an entire orchard of feedback—including some rotten apples.

Related reading:

MEASURED THOUGHTS

In 2018, one-sixth (16%) of all email messages were deleted without being read, reported Return Path. These and a plethora of other email marketing statistics were compiled by communications expert Frank Strong.

One key takeaway is that pictures really can say thousands of words—and move audiences to click. GetResponse reported that emails with images have an average click-through rate of 4.11% in comparison to plain text emails’ 2.87% rate.

However, don’t extend visuals to your subject line: Emails with emojis in the subject line saw 42% fewer replies.

Netflix removes suicide scene from ‘13 Reasons Why’

Following increased pressure from suicide prevention advocates, Netflix edited out a graphic suicide scene in its show “13 Reasons Why.” The move comes two years after the show was released and has garnered praise by organizations including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Trevor Project. Previously, Netflix added a warning at the beginning of the episode and shared a website with suicide prevention resources.

Why you should care: PR and marketing campaigns can have an affect on your audiences beyond your organization’s bottom line. Be mindful of social and political considerations when crafting messages, along with your responsibility as a communicator to fight misinformation.

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SOCIAL BUZZ

Communications and public policy expert Carol Blymire recently shared a story via a Twitter thread about an editing process that went off the rails. Here’s a sample of the story, which will make you either laugh or cry:

The young woman kept saying, “I don’t know why you corrected that because I spell it with the P in it.” The boss said (calmly), “But that’s not how the word is spelled. There is no P in hamster.”

— Carol Blymire (@CarolBlymire) July 12, 2019

Young woman: “But you don’t know that! I learned to spell it with a P in it so that’s how I spell it.”

The boss (remaining very calm and professional), let’s go to https://t.co/n2ZU5Uuuy3 and look it up together.

(mind you, this is a woman in her late 20s, not a 5th grader)

— Carol Blymire (@CarolBlymire) July 12, 2019

The young woman insists she doesn’t need to look it up because it’s FINE to spell it with a P because that’s HOW SHE WANTED TO SPELL IT.

— Carol Blymire (@CarolBlymire) July 12, 2019

What’s your best editing story? Share it with us under the hashtag #MorningScoop.

[FREE REPORT: Communicators’ struggles, strengths and successes]

Google explains process for changes to search results

On Monday, Google’s public liaison for search Danny Sullivan, published a blog post outlining the company’s process for modifying its users’ search results, including providing features such as featured snippets and autocomplete search queries. Sullivan said Google does not employ human curation for its results, but rather relies on its algorithms.

Impress your boss: In his post, Sullivan included links to how Google’s featured snippets work, a guide to getting your website verified and tips for updating the information that shows up about your organization—called Google’s “knowledge panel.” Check it out to refresh yourself on best practices for higher search-result rankings.

Related reading:

FROM OUR EXPERTS

As Boeing works to retrofit an aircraft model that customers don’t want to travel on—and that pilots don’t want to fly—what options are left? PR Daily Editor Ted Kitterman explains why a name change won’t be enough to convert the skeptics and revive the 737 Max.