What happened? + Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Meta, Threads & TikTok Updates

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Stick around for the Social Media News to Use below. This week's top five (or more!) most important updates to help you grow your brand.

Here’s a question that was asked in a group I’m in and my answer below.?

Business leader:?

Advice needed! I am a speaker for a young women in technology conference and I'd like to leave them with nuggets of advice from seasoned working women. If you have any advice you'd like to share, I'd love to include it.?

Me:

1. Be active on LinkedIn

2. Get into high-power rooms - the ones where you feel inferior, less than, have no business being there. Walk in with confidence, even if it’s fake, shoulders back, eyes up, and have the goal of talking to 3 new people.

Bonus Step #3: Reach out and connect on LinkedIn with everyone you met. Include a “nice meeting you at XYZ. I would love to stay in touch.” note.

The ripple effect of this for years to come is everything.

• Meet
• Connect
• Share your knowledge
• Follow up

It’s similar in ways to an article I wrote for the Charlotte Observer in 2019: How I networked my way into my social media dream job - and how you can, too.

THE SCOOP

Join me virtually for my next SkillPop class: Social Media Strategy for Business .

FACEBOOK: “We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content…”

• Facebook will remove its News tab and stop paying publishers for news [The Verge] ?

INSTAGRAM: This is super cute but you have to be on mobile.

• Happy Valentine’s Day from Disneyland Resort! Hold the dots and swipe back and forth — then drop a ?? to share the love! [@Disneyland] ?

INSTAGRAM: I can definitely see pinning a chat thread becoming useful.

• ?? New Instagram DM Features ?? [@Mosseri] ?

LINKEDIN: Simple steps with big impact.

• Small Steps Toward Greater Visibility [LinkedIn] ?

LINKEDIN: LinkedIn is friendly to newsrooms while Facebook and other platforms shun them.

• LinkedIn doubles down on news as social rivals retreat [Axios] ?

META: What happened?? Meta’s platforms and other sites were down last week. According to Axios, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) stated that they aren’t aware of this being a cyber attack. With this happening on Super Tuesday, a lot of people were speculating.

• Facebook and Instagram back online after widespread Meta outage [Axios]

SOCIAL MEDIA: X is not here.

• Downloads Slow Down in January - The Most Downloaded Apps [appfigures] ?

THREADS: Hootsuite, Sprinklr, Sprout Social and some other scheduling tools can now post to Threads.

• Threads Launches Live Test of Its API, Enabling Content Scheduling in Some Third Party Apps [SocialMediaToday] ?

TIKTOK: We’re back to talking about a TikTok ban.

• Bill that could make TikTok unavailable in the US advances quickly in the House [AP]

TIKTOK: Yes, the headline got my click, but while I don’t think the platform is the social media darling it was a few years ago, I think it’s misleading to say it’s “on the decline.”

• TikTok Is on the Decline [Slate]

BUSINESS BONUS

LEADERSHIP: These are the headlines I like to see.

• These are the 2024 CNBC Changemakers: See the full list of women transforming business [CNBC]

NEXT STEPS WITH ME

• Let's talk! Looking for social media coaching for you personally? Content strategy for your organization? Customized employee advocacy program? Workshops? Put a call on my calendar here . ?
• If you need a speaker at an event or a guest social media expert on your podcast, please send me details.