In this week's 'Skim: Facebook ramps up its war on LinkedIn with new ZipRecruiter integration, tests out facial recognition to recover user accounts; Instagram introduces an interactive way for brands and users to poll via Stories; dating app Bumble adds a feature for professional networking and mentorship; Facebook's Messenger Lite takes on the American market (and why it will succeed); e-commerce platform Shopify makes it a cinch for users to buy products directly on Instagram; how to use Facebook Ads to monetize your email list; and much more...

Skim to stay on top of it all!

1. Facebook takes another shot at LinkedIn—with ZipRecruiter job integration

Facebook continues to take swipes at more professional-focused LinkedIn. This time, the social network is partnering with ZipRecruiter, a platform that aggregates job listings and lets users post across traditional job boards and sites (including LinkedIn) to integrate its listings on Facebook.

Before, companies that wanted to list their positions on Facebook had to do so through Facebook itself, via the social network's dedicated job space it launched at the beginning of this year. Now, recruiters can simply tick a box on ZipRecruiter to publish their ad on Facebook.

In short, the social network may have realized it lacked the ability to break into this space alone, but it's still wholly dedicated to doing so. Watch out, LinkedIn.

2. Instagram brings polls to Stories, new eyedropper and alignment tools

We talked about Polly last week, a social polling app that can be integrated with Snapchat to let users poll their friends. Now, Facebook's Instagram is ready to one-up that interactive feature with direct integration of polls into Instagram Stories.

The polling tool comes in the form of a new sticker within Instagram Stories, which users can simply drag and drop onto their Story like any other sticker. The platform then automatically prompts users to create a question and customize its answer choices, and both creators and users can see the results of a poll either by referencing either the viewers list, or after having voted.

Instagram also introduced a new eyedropper tool that lets users choose a color from their photo or video to match their text to, and an alignment tool on iOS that helps stickers and text stay centered when desired.

Time to start thinking how these tools can help your marketing!

3. Locked out of your Facebook account? No problem, just use your face.

If anyone thought Apple's new facial recognition tool to unlock iPhones was creepy, it appears such tactics are here to stay. Facebook is testing a similar facial recognition ability for account recovery, going one step further than the social network's existing two-step authentication with SMS confirmation.

Facebook already helps users more easily tag friends in photos with facial recognition technology, so this development shouldn't really be a surprise. It should be noted, however, that the facial authentication is optional, and available only on devices a user has previously used to login to his or her Facebook account.

4. Dating app Bumble launches LinkedIn-like feature to link up with professionals

Bumble, the Tinder-like social media app for finding love or friends, thinks you need a new way to make professional connections. The app has launched what it calls Bumble Bizz, a new business networking mode that enables users to professionally network and mentor among Bumble's 20 million users.

The perk of Bumble Bizz compared with LinkedIn? It's geo-targeted, meaning users can connect based on how close users are to them at any given time.

Users can build LinkedIn-style professional profiles, including experience, skills, and education, and Bumble Bizz will stick with the app's overarching concept of letting only women reach out to men first in an effort to mitigate potential abuse and inappropriate behavior. Because, you know, men are the only ones capable of that.

5. Facebook launches Messenger Lite in US, Canada, UK, and Ireland

The social giant has been making a play in developing countries with a slimmed-down version of Facebook Messenger to court users who might avoid using its full feature edition because of data or device constraints. Now, it appears Facebook users in developed countries are also prime for the picking.

Facebook recently launched the Android version of Facebook Lite, which offers the core features of Messenger, such as messaging, stickers, and free calls, in four new English-speaking markets, including the US. Facebook's move likely comes with the intention of reaching a new group of users who were previously skittish to spend much time on the app due to the cost or limitation of data, or the constraints of lower-end devices.

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#SocialSkim: Facebook's Big Swipe at LinkedIn; Instagram Polls: 10 Stories This Week

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Christian Neri

Christian Neri is a digital marketing professional in the film & television industry, and a contributor to MarketingProfs. An American expat in Paris, he recently completed his MS in digital marketing at IÉSEG School of Management.

Instagram: @christianneri

Twitter: @christianneri