The Social Media world is a wild place, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with everything that is changing and trending. So, our social team has compiled a summary for you to indulge in. Get comfy and have yourself a read, you may just find yourself a new conversation starter. Enjoy, Social Enthusiasts.
Shop Till You Drop
Instagram is adding onto their existing in-app checkout feature. This feature originally only allowed consumers to purchase items from brands on the app. With this new update, the feature has expanded to Influencers or, as Instagram likes to call them, “Creators.” This allows “Creators” to tag the products they’re wearing or using in their posts, similar to how brands have been able to do on their shoppable posts. As with brand pages, you can choose various options like size and color, then proceed to checkout. With “Creators” playing such a big role in media, this update is game-changing. This feature is currently in the early stages of public testing.
Get Quizzical
Instagram has added to its suite of Story Stickers with the brand-new Quiz Sticker. It allows you to ask your followers multiple-choice questions with answers you provide. Once an answer is chosen, the user will be able to see if they are correct or not, assuming the prompt has a correct answer. Brands can also see real time results. This feature is perfect for brands looking to engage with their customers, bring awareness and uncover user interests.
Watch IGTV On The Big Screen (kinda)
IGTV is a breakout feature on Instagram, so it’s no surprise that they’re improving it on a consistent basis. With the most recent update, you now have the ability to turn your device horizontally and watch landscape formated videos in full screen. Previously, IGTV only supported full screen vertical videos, they also supported landscape videos but you could only view those in a little 16:9 aspect ratio. With full screen you get a bigger view of the video and ultimately a better viewing experience for certain videos. We expect to see more updates come for IGTV as it tries to gain as it establishes itself as an Instagram cornerstone.
#Sponsored #Ad
Everybody is an influencer nowadays, and Instagram keeps rolling updates that help both influencers and brands. Instagram has added Branded Content Ads, which give brands and businesses a new way to reach new audiences by running ads with partnered creators. The way it works is brands can establish partnerships with certain creators. These Creators are then able to share an existing post from the brand like it was their own. It’ll show up on the creators profile, but will clearly state that it is a “paid partnership with (insert brand).” We’re interested to see how this works out, since consumers are more likely to purchase a product that their favorite Creator endorses.
Privacy At Last
Do you ever Google search, then have ads related to those searches pop up all over your Facebook feed, you then think the government is watching every little thing you do? (which they might be). Well Facebook has an update that gives users some of the privacy they’ve been looking for. This new feature will allow users to clear all of the information they have stored regarding their professional activity. This will affect both Facebook and Instagram.
This is a dream come true for users, but almost a nightmare for advertisers. For advertisers, this impacts both behavior and interest targeting while also losing triggered retargeting, which are big blows. As a consumer you love to see the update, but as an advertiser, you better put your thinking cap on and start thinking of new targeting strategies.
Show Me The Money!
Unless you’ve been disconnected from the outside world for the past decade, you have some idea of what cryptocurrency is. Facebook has dipped their feet in the cryptocurrency game and created their own, called Libra. Libra has three stated benefits: simplicity, inclusivity, and global reach. This was made to be something that’s easy enough to be used on everyday tasks like shopping, paying bills, etc. It remains to be seen if consumers will trust Facebook with their money, too.
Facebook Updates Algorithm, Again
Sometimes change is good, and this might be one of those times. Facebook has changed their algorithm yet again. This algorithm update has two key differences. Firstly, Facebook will now prioritize whose content you see by the interactions you had with them in the past. So now you won’t have to see Uncle Larry fill up your feed with annoying posts, and you will see more from friends and family members you engage with (Sorry Uncle Larry). The second update focuses on showing links that users might find the most valuable to them. Don’t get too comfortable with this new algorithm, since we know Facebook will most likely change it once again.
Retweet Revamp
More is better and Twitter is giving us more with Retweets. Twitter has added a new feature that allows you to include GIFs, pictures, and videos all to a Retweet instead of just boring plain text. Who doesn’t love a good gif, gifs galore! Twitter showcased this new feature by tweeting out about this feature and then retweeting it with an image. Recently, Twitter has been adding features to get more visual-based content onto feeds instead of just text which users are accustomed to. This feature is something Tweeters have been asking for, so it’s nice to know they’re listening.
New App, Who This?
Finally Snapchat took us out of our misery and revamped their app for Android. Being Apple snobs and having an iPhones, we think we can speak for a lot of us when we say – and no disrespect to Android users – pictures and videos on Snapchat from an Android user looked like they were taken with a toaster. The discrepancy in quality was so bad that there was no question ofSnapchat focusing more on iOS than Android. Snapchat got a wake up call, though, when their Android app saw a decline in daily users.. This update gave the entire app an overhaul, and addressed its two main issues: quality and speed. This revamp was long-overdue and we’re glad that it finally came.
Introducing: Interview School
For some, interviews can be seen as challenging. Fortunately for them, LinkedIn has a new feature which provides interview prep and advice. With this feature you’ll be able to watch short videos on how to approach a range of interview questions. Premium members will also have the ability to view expert answers to typical interview prompts. This should help you practice your interviewing skills and hopefully land that next job!