A host of social media and messaging service providers announced or launched new functions and layouts overnight, including Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

Facebook has partnered with organisations to help fight Ebola, meaning every one of the social network's 1.3bn users is going to see the 'donate now' button at the top of their home screen some time soon. It will look a bit like the above image. This is major online real estate for Facebook to be giving to the three charities that it has partnered with (Save the Children, Red Cross / Red Crescent and International Medical Corps). It will be interesting to see what funds and what a difference this move can make.

WhatsApp launched 'two blue ticks' which means a message a user has sent has been read. The move has been met with alarm and amazement in equal measure. What ticks on messages mean has long been the cause of debate, but now clearing up the meaning, WhatsApp is also making this move to increase the amount of message flow through its servers. WhatsApp processes a whopping 64 billion messages per day, but ignoring messages and not replying won't be so easy now with the blue ticks - expect to see this number go up sharply very soon. "Because 'last seen' doesn't cause enough damage" said one user.

Lastly, Twitter moved its tweet box yesterday quietly, from the user's profile area over into the news stream, akin to the Facebook layout. Not a major move, but clearly another experiment in encouraging more tweeting and less lurking.