Andy's Round-up: Snapchat looks at Facebook's notes, Facebook goes into local journalism & how significant is 10%?

• Facebook’s ‘undesirable’ appearance policy keeps blocking the wrong people

🤔 What happened?: Facebook's ad approval algorithm is tone deaf to body positivity promoters

💡 My take. Facebook's policy is generally sound, but its anti-predatory ad tech needs to get smarter about what does & doesn't make the cut. Users should be given the option to flag instances where the approval process fall short  

• Snapchat is considering a dedicated news tab

🤔 What happened?: Snapchat might launch a news tab

💡 My take. Aha! After years of Facebook borrowing & one-upping Snapchat features with Instagram, the shoe might soon be on the other foot. Facebook has already approached media companies about licensing its own content, and Snapchat could follow suit.

• New algorithm can distinguish cyberbullies from normal Twitter users with 90% accuracy

🤔 What happened?: Researchers identify the behaviour patterns of cyberbullies on Twitter with 90% accuracy

💡 My take. 90% accuracy is pretty impressive, but on the other hand, 10% of the time the algorithm will be wrong. That'll cause a lot of frustration for users, and the manual case work will pile up on Twitter's desk.  

• Linkedin launches skills assessments, tests that let you beef up your credentials for job hunting

🤔 What happened?: You can now take some skills assessments tests on Linkedin to earn badges

💡 My take. This is pretty smart. Candidates don't have to come in for a tech skills test, and employers can cut their time-to-hire.  

• Facebook expands 'Today In' local news section to more than 6,000 US Cities and Towns

🤔 What happened?: Facebook launches its local news section in 6,000 US cities and towns

💡 My take. Over the past years, local news outlets have relied on social media for driving traffic to their sites. A dedicated place for this news within the app seems like the natural step forward, and should benefit the publishers too.