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Social Media News: The 5 Biggest Stories of the Week

Samantha Scott

Apr 23, 2024

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Social Media News: The 5 Biggest Stories of the Week
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We get it! You're busy scheduling content and engaging with your followers, so it can be difficult to make time to sit down and read about the latest Facebook algorithm update or how brands are leveraging TikTok. But, hey, it's also important to carve out time to learn about new ways to improve your social media strategy. So, put down your phone (we know: it's a big ask!) and indulge in reading about recent social media updates.

Top Social Media and PR News Stories This Week

If you work in social media marketing, these are the stories you need to read this week!

New Updates for Creators Using Instagram Subscriptions

Some key new updates have been introduced for creators who take advantage of Instagram’s subscription feature. A particularly useful update aims to prevent screen recording and screenshots of subscription-only posts and lives. The update also includes a new metric to help creators track sticker clicks in Stories.

LinkedIn Tests Premium Company Pages

LinkedIn is testing some new premium company pages that include AI assistance for attracting new customers and building engagement. The offering is currently available to small and medium businesses.

There is Now a Premium Placement Option for Shorts Ads

YouTube Shorts is now offering a premium placement option that businesses can use to get in front of more potential customers. This new “Select Shorts” option allows advertisers to choose from these five categories to strategically place their ads: entertainment, beauty, fashion & lifestyle, food & recipes, gaming, and automotive.

Generative AI Images for Google Demand Gen Ads

Google is introducing generative AI into their demand gen ads, allowing marketers to create AI visuals to accompany their promotions. Using AI to create images specific to campaign type and format could go a long way toward increasing ROI on advertising.

New AI Watermarks on Snapchat Images

Snapchat will start showing a watermark so users can more easily identify AI generated images and videos that are downloaded from the app. The move will provide more transparency especially if the images are shared elsewhere after being downloaded.

Update from April 16

Snapchat Partners With New Ad Platforms

Snap has partnered with companies AppsFlyer and Snowflake to facilitate more advanced targeting, and data privacy and protection. As part of the integration with Snowflake, Snap “will serve as a key mobile platform partner” enabling marketers to work from a single view, while AppsFlyer provides an extra layer of security.

Recruiter Verification Badge on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has added a verified badge for recruiters, which will help unwitting job seekers avoid scams. The verification process is optional but recommended. It’s a small but powerful indicator that could go a long way to improving the workflow for job seekers.

More In-stream Shopping Tools on YouTube

YouTube is adding a few new shopping features that ecommerce businesses can take advantage of. These include “Shopping Collections”, which provide a way that creators can set up curated lists of their favorite products, and a new Affiliate Hub making it easier for influencers to connect to potential partners. 

Snapchat Debuts New AI Try-on Experience With Cartier

In partnership with Cartier and to celebrate the jewelry company's 100th anniversary, Snapchat has debuted a new AI ring try-on experience. It’s the latest in similar try-on experiences that Snap has launched for products such as nail polish, glasses, and shoes.

Update from April 9

Meta Expands AI Content Tagging Policy

Meta is expanding their content policy to better indicate when a post has been created with or uses AI. The previous policy only applied to altered videos while the new label will be used to identify any photos, videos, or audio that has been AI-generated.

New “Notify” Sticker on Instagram

A new sticker on Instagram will allow users to set a notification for when new content is uploaded by their favorite creators. Clicking the notification sticker provides users with different choices so they can customize what kind of posts they want to get notifications for.

New B2B TV Ad Features on LinkedIn 

Now you will be able to reach new audiences through LinkedIn CTV ads. Partnering with various video providers including Paramount and Samsung, businesses can now launch CTV ads via the LinkedIn campaign manager. 

Advanced Partner Program Launches at Snapchat

Snapchat is introducing a new Advanced Partner Program, an extension of their existing partner program. From Snap: “Advanced partners will receive unique benefits throughout the year including personalized training and enablement sessions, dedicated support, and additional tools and resources.”

Threads Creator Bonus Program in Testing

In effort to spur growth and engagement, Threads is experimenting with a new bonus program for creators. The incentive program will reward posts based on volume and performance. The program is currently invite-only and in the beginning stages of being rolled out.

Update from April 2

Snapchat Introduces Templates, Longer Videos, and More

Snapchat is adding a range of new features including advanced AI lenses, templates for shared Memories, and longer video lengths. The lenses convert images based on certain themes and Memories can now be remixed with music allowing you to reuse clips in new and fun ways. 

New “Blend Feed” in Testing at Instagram

This is an interesting one. Instagram is testing a “Blend” feed which would show you recommended Reels based on those you’ve sent to friends. It’s an intriguing idea in response to the growing popularity among users of sharing content via DMs, rather than to their public feed.

More Ad Features on Reddit

Reddit is introducing some new Ad features for businesses to tap into. These include AI suggested headlines based on the formats that perform the best and an Asset Cropper tool that customizes imagery to fit Reddit Ad sizes. They’ve also done some work to improve bidding options. 

New Google Shopping AI Features

Google Shopping is making some improvements. New AI driven enhancements will now provide related style recommendations and body-size matching. Users will also be able to refine these results by upvoting or downvoting based on personal preferences, as well as indicate which brands they’d like to see more or less of.

Update from March 26

Snapchat Adds Sponsored Filter Option for Brands

This is an interesting one. Snapchat has added a sponsored filter option, which brands can use for various promotions. The filters act as ads which include a link, providing more visibility and reach to a campaign. The filters are also a less heavy lift than a full AR experience, so more brands can start to take advantage of Snap as a marketing channel.

AI-Powered Skip Ahead Feature in Testing at YouTube

YouTube is testing an AI-powered skip feature, which would make it easier to skip to popular points in a video. This update would use AI to predict the places where most users stop when fast-forwarding, offering a “jump-ahead” action if a viewer is double tapping a video to skip through. 

Instagram is continuing to test new elements for Carousel posts. Their latest test would introduce the ability to leave a comment for a specific image or video within a carousel. This would open a lot of interesting possibilities for brands and influencers and potentially increase engagement on carousel posts. 

YouTube Adds Audience Segments and Customizable

YouTube has added another audience retention metric, this time for different audience groups. This new view shows you which of your videos are most popular for various audience segments, including “New vs Returning” and “Subscribed vs Unsubscribed”, allowing you to more accurately cater your content.

Update from March 19

LinkedIn Tests Incorporating Games into the Home Feed

LinkedIn is reportedly experimenting with adding in-app games. It’s quite a compelling idea for encouraging engagement on the platform, with a lot of interesting possibilities, but it remains to be seen whether users will go along for the ride. Per LinkedIn, the puzzle-type games will showcase scores and rankings, “to unlock a bit of fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully spark the opportunity for conversations.”

TikTok’s Sound Library Will Now Include Influencer Clips

Going forward the TikTok sounds library will include audio from influencers, which brands can then tap into for their advertising purposes. These audio samples are labeled “Sounds for Business”. The new collection also includes templates that brands can use for greater success.

Instagram is testing a new feature for carousel posts. These include more frames to choose from for your posts and the ability to add 15 photos or videos as opposed to 10. Carousel posts traditionally perform better than single image posts, so the new additions could be a great way to make these posts more appealing to creators, brands, and viewers.

Snapchat Tests Option to Keep Messages Beyond 24 Hours

Snapchat is currently testing the option to let users keep messages past 24 hours. As disappearing messages has always been Snaps model, it’s an interesting move to say the least, and one only available to a small subset of users at the moment. Auto-delete will remain the default selection meaning users would need to actively turn this option on. 

Instagram Launches Promo Codes for Ads

Now brands advertising on Instagram can add a promo code that will be automatically applied when users shop in-app. This update will facilitate better tracking and could encourage more Instagrammers and brands to take advantage of social commerce.

Update from March 12

Long Form Post Option Available to X Premium Subscribers

X is introducing “Articles” — a long form posting option available to premium members. It’s a move to encourage more in-app publishing as opposed to sharing outbound links to longer articles. It will be interesting to watch how user adoption of longer posts progresses among paying users.

New Insights for Brands Using Reddit

Reddit has created a new toolkit to help brands using the platform. Reddit Pro is a suite of tools, free to use, from which brands can see performance metrics and grow their presence. Currently in beta, Reddit Pro includes publishing tools, AI driven insights, and an engagement dashboard. 

New LinkedIn Tool for Facilitating Internal Career Progression

LinkedIn is introducing some new tools to help companies facilitate internal career growth for their employees. These internal mobility features include a “Next Role Explorer” that recommends potential roles, role guides, and learning plans for skill development.   

Google to Start Showing Recent Social Posts in Business Profiles

Google has announced that it will start displaying recent social posts in business profile listings. Businesses will have control over which social profiles are connected, but posts are populated automatically. It’s an interesting, very natural development, and could inspire more businesses to pay closer attention to their posts from a quality and frequency perspective.

Update from March 5

New Safety Alerts on Instagram

Instagram plans to start sharing alerts to help prevent users from succumbing to scams on the platform. The new in-stream alerts warn of possibly malicious links, impersonators, and suspicious DMs. It’s actually quite a useful update, and could go a long way toward generating awareness of common schemes.

More Features in Instagram DMs

Instagram continues to add new features to their DM space, which has seen an uptick in activity over the past few years. Going forward, users will be able to pin conversations, made edits to sent DMs (within a 15 minute period), and save their favorite GIFs and stickers for future use.

TikTok Tests Auto-tagging Products

This is an interesting one. TikTok is currently testing a feature that would automatically tag similar products to those seen in certain videos. The feature identifies products using AI and links to the TikTok shop when clicked. It presents an intriguing new avenue when it comes to how influencers use the app, and could help boost social commerce activity. 

Threads May Experiment With Auto-archiving Posts

Threads is continuing to do what it can to differentiate itself and keep usership up, mostly with positive reception. The latest big idea however, posed by Adam Mosseri, could need some convincing. The Instagram Chief is proposing an auto-archive update, which would archive posts after 30 days. Users seem skeptical of the idea, but it may hold merit as a way to encourage more active sharing on the app.

Update from February 20

New Music Remixing Options for YouTube Shorts

Creators mourning the suddenly lacking music options on TikTok may now lean more heavily on YouTube with this recent update. YouTube creators can now remix other Shorts in a variety of ways, including: Sound, Collab, Green Screen, and Cut. It will be interesting to watch how quickly this feature gets picked up in the wake of TikTok’s ongoing battle with Universal Music.

Snapchat Partners With Fospha

Snapchat has partnered with digital measurement company Fospha in order to facilitate more accurate tracking and attribution touch-points for brands. Per Snap this partnership will empower partners "to improve their attribution capabilities, identify growth opportunities, and maximize ROAS.”

Meta Verified Filter in Instagram Comments

This is an interesting update. Meta is now making it possible to filter comments by Meta Verified accounts. It could be a revealing way to filter out bots, irrelevant, and less valuable comments in favor of high profile engagement from celebrities, influencers, and brands. 

Fact Checker in Testing on Threads

Ahead of the upcoming election, Threads is testing a fact checker feature with the goal of minimizing the spread of misinformation and disinformation. Currently the notes attached to posts are not unique to Threads, but this is the eventual goal with Thread-specific tags.

Update from February 13

YouTube Adds Livestream Displays to Shorts Feed

This could be a big feature for livestreamers! YouTube will start showing in-progress livestreams in the Shorts feed; a feature that provides greater exposure for livestreams, allowing scrollers to hop in when something seems interesting. TikTok already does this, with great success, so it’s only natural that YouTube — where livestream videos are a favorite format for content creators — should try to empower creators with more visibility. 

Video Cutout Stickers on Instagram

Instagram is expanding on their recent update that allows users to create their own sticker cutouts from Feed posts. Now, users will also be able to do the same with videos, essentially creating a GIF. This option is available for anyone to use from videos posted publicly, although the ability can be turned off in settings.

Limit Your Political Posts on Threads

Threads and Instagram are experimenting with a new “Recommendations” feature that will allow users to limit the number of political posts that they see. Users will need to proactively opt-in to see more political posts, and they can also set various “recommendations” for what they would prefer to see. It will be interesting to track how this shakes out in terms of engagement numbers on the social platforms, but for now it seems like a good move toward making your feed a more positive place.

New Networking Prompts on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is adding new prompts to help facilitate networking within the app. Going forward, users will see a tab on their homepage called “Grow” (which used to be labeled “Network”) which will show you suggested connection opportunities. A new tab within “Grow” called “Catch Up” will provide suggested prompts for reaching out to your peers.

Update from February 6

Instagram Tests Preview Mode

Instagram is testing a new preview mode that would allow users to test layouts for their photo and video grid before posting. This could be especially useful for brands and creators looking to create a sleeker and more cohesive feel on Instagram. 

New Attribution Option on Meta

Meta is adding more attribution metrics to help brands understand user behavior after they engage with video ads. Now marketers will be able to measure if a conversion takes place within a specific period of time after a customer views their ad. 

See Playlist Metrics on YouTube

An interesting and potentially very useful new tool for YouTube marketers! The platform has introduced new analytics that allows you to see how users interact with your playlists. This could help you hone in on which playlists do well, and what changes you could make to encourage people to tune in. 

Discovery Through Topic Tags on X

X is adding a new search and discovery parameter that could help users find relevant communities to participate in. Community admins can now add up to 10 topic tags related to the conversations that members take part in.

Update from January 30

Super Likes on YouTube

YouTube is experimenting with adding “Super Likes” for “Super Chats” in livestreams and premieres. Super Chats are typically pinned during these events and a Super Like would be another way to facilitate donations and engagement.

More Safety Measures on Meta for Teens

Meta is adding more safety measures for teen users. New restrictions further limit who can send DMs to teens, and parents will now have additional controls and visibility. Perhaps most notably, young users will now need parental consent to turn off these default settings (if their profiles are connected through the Family Center).

New Video Editing Option on TikTok

A small but useful new editing option is being added to TikTok. The new Cutout feature is very similar to the green screen effect but offers wider flexibility when it comes to adding different backgrounds to your videos. 

New Tips Hub for Small Businesses Using Reddit

As it heads toward an IPO this year, Reddit is making sure businesses have all the tools they need to make the most of their advertising on the platform. Their latest addition is a mini-site for SMBs, offering tips and examples to help maximize engagement and conversions.

Update from January 23

Nighttime Nudges for Teens Using Instagram

Instagram is putting more safeguards in place for its younger users. A new update gives teens a gentle prompt to stop scrolling, after a certain amount of time. The nudge is currently set to activate during late nighttime hours when it detects that a young person has been scrolling through Reels or DMs for 10 minutes or longer.

LinkedIn Rolls Out New Sponsored Posts

A new sponsored post option is now available on LinkedIn, which could help increase lead generation through the site. With the new feature, companies can promote LinkedIn articles that they write with various CTAs including asking people to sign up before reading further. 

AI Pets on Snapchat

A whole new generation is discovering the joy of virtual pets. (Although the Snapchat version is a touch more sophisticated than our Tamagotchis). The new AI pet feature allows Snapchat+ subscribers to use generative AI for creating the pet of their dreams, real or imaginary. 

New Accessibility Feature on TikTok

TikTok continues to add accessibility features that make it easier for wider audiences to enjoy the app. Their latest update incorporates larger display text to make it easier to read. Although it’s important to note that text used within TikTok clips themselves still has size limitations.

Update from January 16

Create Custom Stickers on Instagram

Instagram is introducing a new feature that allows users to create custom stickers from their own photos, or the photos of other creators, if they are shared publicly. These can then be re-shared via Stories or Reels. For brands this could present an interesting new avenue for encouraging UGC.

Polls and Voice Notes in WhatsApp

WhatsApp has added the option to include polls and voice notes in channels, increasing the ways that brands can drive engagement and connect with their audiences through the app. 

AI Song Generation in Testing at TikTok

TikTok is coming out strong on the AI front in the new year with a new song generation feature. Now users can create prompts and the app will create song lyrics powered by Bloom, a multilingual language model.

More Creator Management Tools From Meta

Meta is improving the way that brands can connect with creators and facilitate partnerships. Now talent management agencies will be able to more easily access analytics data for influencers such as audience size and page earnings.

Update from January 9

X Partners With Shopify

X is expanding its Shopify partnership to try and entice more merchants to advertise and promote products in-app. New features will include more product amplification options, a simpler catalog update process, and more ways to maximize ad activity.

TikTok Announces Chromecast Integration

Is this the next phase of TikTok viewing? The app has announced a new Chromecast integration that would allow people to view TikTok videos on TV. Some options for watching TikTok videos this way already exist, but with Chromecast, TikTok is hoping to expand this viewing experience to a wider user base.

New Marketing Partner Categories Introduced on TikTok

TikTok is introducing some new ways that brands can facilitate better engagement, with categories that provide better context when it comes to performance and goals. These new measurement partners are now separated into the categories of “Cross Channel” and “Lift”. 

Reddit Report Showcases Power of Peer Product Review

Reddit continues to illustrate their unique power for brands with a look at how people take advantage of the platform to learn about products and find reviews. One of the most compelling stats revealed in their latest user study drives this home: “In 2023, users added “Reddit” to Google searches 32B times as they sought answers from real people rather than traditional influencers, digital articles or sponsored listicles.” (Reddit)

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