Social Media Updates – August 2023

We’re back with another round-up of social media updates, and we’re bringing you the juiciest titbits about ever-evolving social platforms! So, if you’re the kind of person who can’t resist checking their Instagram between meals… Or you’re managing a business’s online presence, then these social media updates are for you!

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X:

While we’re still getting used to calling Twitter, X… this is X-actly where we’re starting this month’s round-up!

After throwing some shade toward LinkedIn, X is beginning to roll out job listings to verified organisations. While this is only available in the US, verified companies will be able to import all of their vacancies. Could X become a genuine competitor to LinkedIn? The jury’s out… but we’ll be keeping a close eye for more social media updates!

While Elon is looking to compete with other platforms (again!) it seems that advertising on X isn’t going well. Small businesses are being offered $250 of ad credit. But there is a catch, you need to be spending $1000 or more on a new campaign.

If you’re wondering whether X is dead in the water, it isn’t, but there is something that you should keep in mind for your posting strategy. Moving forward, posts containing links will be displayed in a different way. Instead of including preview text, it will simply show the image with a hyperlink overlaid on the picture. So, what’s behind the change? Elon has taken full responsibility for this one! It’s hoped that this will make the feed more visually appealing and reduce the amount of space that posts with links take up.

Finally for X:

You may have heard some rumblings about the platform removing the block feature. We’re not focusing too much on this social media update – it’s nothing to worry about. Essentially, X can’t remove the block feature. The app would be removed from both the Apple and Google Play stores for violating guidelines. Nice try Elon!

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LinkedIn:

In order to better personalise the feed, LinkedIn is “expanding its engagement signals”. What this means is that LinkedIn’s been tweaking the algorithm which is impacting how posts are being distributed in the feed. Users should start to see pages and people they engage with most and a reduction in notifications for specific actions. Not only that, but the algorithm will be putting a bigger focus on hashtag engagement!

This isn’t the only social media update from LinkedIn, they’re working on providing more transparency to users. To do this the platform is launching brand partnership tags. Which will see any content that brings in compensation being eligible to get this tag.

Next up, LinkedIn is improving the functionality of their newsletters meaning you could host up to 5! There is a good reason why you might consider having multiple newsletters. It would allow you to increase your brand presence as well as target different markets!

Instagram:

Our first social media update for IG is a pretty big one! But it’s taken a little longer than we thought for this update to be tested… but it’s here and Instagram is testing longer Reels content. 3 minute and 10-minute Reels are currently being tested internally, it’s giving us IGTV vibes, which was retired around a year ago! Unlike IGTV, longer Reels will appear under the Reels tab and this update is moving in line with viewing trends.

Next, IG has added new reply options for users! We’re not getting too excited about this one, as like with the longer Reels, these features have been available in a similar capacity on TikTok and YouTube for a while! But it’s still a great move by Meta.

Over the past few months or so, experiments have been taking place where users can take comments from a Reel or public post and share it to your story! This is going to prompt users to make even more content by allowing them to showcase the most interesting questions or comments they’ve received.

Lastly, IG is expanding its notes functionality and allowing users to record Voice Notes! These are quite a popular way to communicate, especially in WhatsApp and it’s almost a throwback to MySpace! But it’s hoped that this update, which is still being tested, will capitalise on younger users who are regularly posting updates and random thoughts. If you’re using notes, we’d love to hear what you think of this addition!

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Facebook:

This update from Facebook is focusing on groups! Admins have been receiving notifications from Facebook saying that they need to be more active in moderating or they could be replaced! While this might seem a bit harsh, the focus is on ensuring that engagement in the group isn’t lost! In all honesty, we’re not sure about this update… After all, users may go on holiday and return to find a random participant who is now an admin of a group they’ve spent a lot of time building! So, we’ll wait to hear more on this before casting our final judgement!

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Threads:

The chatter and excitement around Threads seems to have levelled out, with improvements being made to Twitter (or X!), has Elon been able to prevent a mass migration to the competition? At first glance, we’d say yes! The hype around signup and posting that ever-important first thread was HUGE! But disappointingly there seems to be issues with retention.

Since its launch on the 31st of July 2023, the newest app on the block has seen daily active users reduce by a massive 81%! So, the focus for Zuck and Meta is to improve the functionality of the app in the hope that this will keep users engaged!

We’re not too surprised to hear that retention has been a problem, we’ve seen a good few social media platforms come and go… remember Shuffles, Lemon8 and TikTok now?! We’d always recommend holding off on adding a new platform to your strategy until you’ve learnt a little more about how it works and see what’s happening after the initial hype has passed!

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TikTok:

If you’ve been experimenting with AI recently, you must read this update!

The community guidelines for TikTok already note that “deepfake” videos are prohibited and with that the platform wants users to label any content that includes AI-generated?material (photo, video etc.). This update is going to make it easier for users to identify AI-generated material and seems like a sensible move by the platform.

Product-based businesses, rejoice! TikTok has launched a new push in the hopes of boosting?in-app purchases. This update essentially looks like TikTok will become a fulfilment centre (similar to Amazon) and will then facilitate orders directly (for a fee).

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That’s a wrap!

Like the sun in August, the social media updates have been few and far between! We hope you found the round-up useful, let us know on Twitter, which update you’re most interested in!

We’ll be back “when September ends” (thanks Greenday!), until then… Stay social!