16 Major Features in Social Media 2016
We’re taking a look into the year’s biggest features in social- can you say, sticker craze?- and how our favourite platforms have made their mark on 2016. Social networks have transformed into indispensable tools that continuously help shape our everyday lives, and the major players have it all covered.
Facebook remains the top social network in terms of membership with 79% of internet users with an account; that is, 1.79 billion monthly active users.
1. Facebook Reactions allow users to react using more than just a simple thumbs-up aka Like. The five additional emojis on top of Like, are Love, Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry.
2. Facebook Live makes it easy to create, share, and discover live videos. It allows you to broadcast to your friends and followers in real-time as well as instantaneous engagement.
3. Facebook Marketplace is a convenient venue to buy and sell with your local community. What started as simple a Facebook Group grew substantially over time with more than 450 million people visiting to buy and sell items.
4. Mobile payments which lets consumers to make and receive payments through Facebook Messenger is courtesy of a collaboration with PayPal.
One-third of all internet users own an Instagram account with over 500 million monthly active users. 95 million photos and videos are reportedly being shared by users per day.
5. Instagram Business Tools help make businesses stand out, get insights, and find new customers. Business profiles are created so customers can call, text, or e-mail retailers. The platform also gives actionable information to businesses on who their followers are and which posts are more popular than others through Insights.
6. Instagram Stories allow users to share all Moments that won’t be a permanent feature on their profiles (they’re up only for 24 hours). You may also use text and drawing tools to customize your posts.
7. Live Video helps your business connect with your community using up to an hour’s worth of video. The video disappears from the app when you are done and you are presented with the option to turn on Comments or not.
One-quarter of internet users have Twitter accounts. Fun fact: a reported 29% of its users are college degree holders.
8. Timeline by relevance rearranges tweets using an algorithm and not in chronological fashion. Tweets are now lined up according to how much engagement they have gained through Likes, Retweets, and Replies.
9. Twitter Moments are curated stories rolling out the most popular and relevant topics on Twitter to make it easier for users to discover. Select from various categories including news, sports, entertainment, fun, among others.
10. Twitter Live incorporates Periscope software and lets users broadcast goings-on on the spot and post them alongside a tweet to boost user engagement. Twitter users can tap in and comment on the video.
LinkedIn users have remained consistent over the years with 29% of internet users with accounts in 2016. It is especially utilized by college graduates and high-income earners.
11. Account targeting aligns sales with marketing by engaging target accounts most valued by your business. With 450 million users, you can now reach 6.8 million C-level executives, 40 million business decision-makers, and 61 million senior-level professionals to date.
12. Open Candidates allow users to privately signal to recruiters that they are open to job opportunities. Users can also specify the types of companies and job roles they are most interested in so they are easily found by their preferred recruiters.
13. LinkedIn Salary helps professionals across the globe make better career decisions and maximize their earning potential. LinkedIn Premium users now have access to a detailed distribution of base salary and other benefits for a specific job title. Also discoverable are top paying locations, industries, and companies.
Snapchat
2016 proved to be Snapchat’s year as it went through some serious developments as a platform. 150 million are reported to be daily active users with twice as much monthly active users.
14. Snapchat Memories gets users sharing photos and videos captured from within and outside the platform to their Stories. Additionally, the feature allows users to save Snaps to their camera roll as well as re-share previously posted Snaps.
15. Spectacles is the first hardware gadget introduced by Snap Inc. It is a pair of smart glasses with a built-in camera that records 10 seconds of video at a time. Currently the only way to purchase them is at pop-up dispensers in select locations.
16. Group Conversations lets users chat within a group of up to 16 users. The feature is a response to the growing need for engagement. Chats are deleted after 24 hours with files that can only be opened once, and re-played once by each user in the group.