Latest Updates In The Social Media World

Hello marketers and business owners!

How are things going for everyone? I thought I'd offer you a summary of the most recent social media developments today. There have been plenty of significant changes that everyone in the business world should be aware of.

Let's get into it! ??

1. Instagram’s Feed Display

This one definitely did not come as a surprise. Instagram has started testing a new, full-screen format of its main feed display, which makes IG content appear somewhat like TikTok, leveraging on current user behaviours. Instagram previously stated they would be aligning their feeds around their popular reels feature, which currently takes up more than 20% of Instagram user’s time. It's predicted that Instagram’s end goal is to produce a one-stop feed that contains posts, reels and stories all on one scrollable page to make content catch-up easier for users.?

2. Reel Templates

Another roll-out from Instagram this week comes in the form of reel templates. Gone are the days of trying to align your video clips with trending sounds. The templates provide accurate timing and trimming instructions to coordinate snippets, merging them to perfectly fit with the sound. This is a revolutionary move from the platform, as many social media users have been pushing other platforms such as TikTok to introduce similar features for quite some time. Instagram users have been previously known to create content via TikTok and upload onto Instagram as a reel subsequently. This update will hopefully shift that process to place reels at the forefront of video creation. A BIG win for Instagram!

3. Facebook Tests New Bubbles

There is no denying that Facebook is rapidly losing ground to newer social platforms, causing them to continuously attempt new approaches to keep users around. Facebook's latest trial is the addition of new notification bubbles within your Notifications page that alert you to new posts shared by your friends. These bubbles are intended to serve as quick links to your connection’s latest posts. This upgrade may aid in avoiding potential algorithmic re-ordering issues, which could cause users to miss out on important updates. Despite this, it does seem as if Facebook is scrambling to engage their users, who are spending more and more time using platforms such as TikTok .?

4. LinkedIn Updates Algorithm

LinkedIn has become a fundamental platform for business-minded individuals aiming to either build their personal or professional brand. LinkedIn’s engagement is rocketing, with the platform reporting ‘record levels’ of engagement growth for six quarters in a row and counting! Just like any other social media platform, users are obsessed with boosting engagement to ideally build connections and create business. LinkedIn has never supported engagement baiting posts but their new feed algorithm is designed to specifically reduce the visibility of these types of posts. Users who overuse polls and those that post politically motivated content will also receive limited exposure moving forward.?

5. WhatsApp Community

WhatsApp has initiated the first stage of its new rollout , with reactions now accessible in group chats and users now able to send files up to 2GB in size, up from the previous cap of 100MB. WhatsApp is currently introducing a big push for community-based messaging, also introducing the ability to form a group chat with up to 512 members. This expansion will provide new opportunities for marketers to create brand-affiliated WhatsApp groups in which they can provide exclusive offers to their most loyal customers. This update is another steady roll-out and therefore may not be available to all users yet, but the time is coming.

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