Welcome to Social Media Buzz Weekly, your weekly bulletin of the latest social media updates. With the social media landscape evolving with each passing day, it can be challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments. Well, not anymore, as we have taken it upon ourselves to keep you abreast of every happening in the social media space.
So, without any further ado, let’s look at some of the most significant developments from the last week in the world of social media.
1. Meta and TikTok Asked To Provide EU Officials With More Insight Into Disinformation Efforts
EU officials are once again looking to hold social platforms to the letter of the law of their new Digital Services Act (DSA), with official requests sent to both Meta and TikTok, asking them to explain how they’re dealing with the influx of mis- and disinformation around the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Various reports have indicated that social media platforms are being used to amplify propaganda, with Hamas militants even accessing the social media accounts of hostages, and the dead, to share disturbing content. EU officials, under the more stringent DSA laws, want to ensure that the major online platforms are working to address this, in order to limit the weaponization of social apps, and harmful exposure to European users.
2. Meta Expands Broadcast Channels to Facebook and Messenger
After seeing success with its broadcast Channels on Instagram, Meta is now extending the option to Facebook and Messenger as well, providing more ways for creators to share updates with their audience.
Broadcast Channels is essentially a one-way group chat option, which enables users to follow creators and high profile people, who can then keep their fans updated on their latest updates, via DM. Broadcast Channels on Facebook will be highlighted on creator pages in the app, while creators will also be able to promote their Channel in-feed. Pages will be able to able to create a broadcast Channel within Messenger, enabling them to reach their audience’s inbox with their latest updates. Pages will also be able to share voice notes, text, photos, videos, and GIFs within their Channel chats, which could help to enhance community connection and engagement, in alignment with usage trends.
3. Meta Brings More Personal Data Control Elements to Its ‘Accounts Center’ Tool
Meta has announced an update to its Accounts Center management platform, which will bring more of your Facebook and IG data options into this centralized control element.
Back in January, Meta rolled out an updated Accounts Center, which now integrates all of your data control options for Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger into a single interface. Now, it’s also adding in personal data downloads, so that you can access all the info that Meta has on you in one place. That’ll make it much easier for people to understand how they can access these options, which many are likely unaware of, as they’ve been long hidden within sub-sections of your app settings.
4. TikTok is Experimenting With 15-Minute Uploads
TikTok is experimenting with a new 15-minute upload option, extending on the current 10-minute video limit, as some users are now being informed that they can upload 15-minute clips.
TikTok’s original time limit per clip was 15 seconds before it extended that to 60 seconds, covering a wider range of uses. It then revised it again to 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, before going to 10 minutes in 2022, which disappeared from the app as a direct option earlier this year, but is still available when uploading a clip (as opposed to recording).
5. Instagram Adds Polls in Comment Streams on Feed Posts and Reels
Instagram’s adding another engagement option, with polls in comments now in testing with selected users. The new option will enable users to add interactive polls within the comment streams on both feed posts and Reels clips (you can already run polls in Stories and DMs). Instagram’s been testing the option over the past six months, with various early iterations spotted in testing by some users.
6. Threads Adds Instagram Profile Tags, Providing More Interconnection Between Apps
Instagram has added another growth feature for Threads, which enables you to tag Instagram users who don’t yet have a Threads account, so that you can follow them if/when they do.
Now, you can tag an Instagram user who hasn’t activated a Threads profile as yet, and the tag will show up with an Instagram icon, instead of the regular @ handle. Other users will then be able to follow that user in advance, so if they do activate a Threads profile, you’ll get all of their updates, helping you keep in touch with interesting users. You can also tap through to their IG profile, providing more interconnectivity between the two apps.
7. Snap Partners with Education Providers on New AR Lesson Elements
Via a new partnership with edtech company Inspirit, Snap’s working to create a range of new AR Lenses to augment STEM learning, which will be implemented by at least 50 schools across the U.S. next year.
Snap’s new AR initiative will provide interactive, engaging AR elements to help illustrate key principles, which could have a range of applications across various sectors and subjects. Snap notes that the new approach is driving strong engagement, with 85% of participating students agreeing that the incorporation of AR into their lessons assists with memory and retention.
8. Snapchat Launches New Tools To Facilitate Creator Collaborations with Brands
Snapchat has announced some new creator collaboration ad tools in the lead-up to the holiday shopping push, providing more ways to maximize brand exposure in the app.
Firstly, Snap’s rolling out its own “Paid Partnership Tags” for sponsored posts, which will provide additional transparency in the app. And with Snap’s focus on more intimate connection, Snap creators can indeed be highly influential, which could make this a valuable driver of brand sentiment and audience response, through niche partnerships and collaborations.
With Snapchat’s new Creator Discovery API, third-party platforms will now also be able to help businesses tap into Snapchat’s growing roster of creative talent for their campaigns. Also, Snapchat is launching a new ad placement option, with midrolls for creator Stories.
9. X’s Latest Experiment Will Charge New Users $1 To Engage in App
X is testing a new program in New Zealand and the Philippines, where new, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to post and interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users will not be affected. The program, which X has titled “Not a Bot”, will enable the X team to “evaluate a potentially powerful measure to help us combat bots and spammers” in the app.
10. LinkedIn Looks to Help Candidates Stand Out With ‘Top Choice’ Job Application Option
LinkedIn’s rolling out its new “Top Job” option to all LinkedIn Premium subscribers, which enables LinkedIn subscribers to mark three roles per month as a “Top Choice”, which alerts recruiters to their extra interest in the role.
Within the “Easy Apply” process in the app, Premium users will now also be able to tick the “Top choice job” box for a chosen role, which will then make your profile stand out to the relevant recruiter, with a green badge that’ll appear on your application in the Recruiter platform. LinkedIn’s been testing the option with selected Premium users over the past four months, and has found that marking your application with the “Top Choice” flag has led to increased awareness and action from recruiters.
Wrapping Up
And that was a wrap of this week’s Social Media Buzz. We’ll be back next week with more news and updates for you from the social media world. Till then, stay tuned!
If you want to read more on the latest developments taking place in the social media space, take a look at ClickInsights’ Social Media Buzz, wherein we bring to you monthly reports on everything going on in social media, ranging from platform updates to policy changes that influence the way we market.