When we started these round-ups, we honestly thought there would be some months with absolutely nothing new to talk about and that we’d eventually run out of social media updates.
BUT March proved us entirely wrong and there were absolutely tonnes of updates and changes in and around social media last month. So, to keep you in the loop, here are some of the things we spotted…
TIKTOK GOES FEATURE-LENGTH
When TikTok first launched in 2016, it was intended as a platform for short-form video content, with the maximum length of videos being just 15 seconds. Over time, this limit has gradually increased, first to 30 seconds, then 60, then 3 minutes, and now TikTok has announced a huge length increase to a whopping 10 minutes!
We have to admit, we are not the biggest TikTok-ers yet at Social Progress, so this change hasn’t had a massive impact on us yet. But this latest update certainly opens up more opportunities for TikTok users and essentially changes the face of this platform.
If you’re on TikTok, be sure to give us a follow! www.tiktok.com/@socialprogress
CAREER GAP FEATURES ON LINKEDIN
Last month, LinkedIn launched a great new feature which allows users to add career gap information to explain a break in employment.
We think this is a really good move from LinkedIn, as the things we achieve outside of work are important too! Now, instead of having an ominous-looking gap in you employment history, you can explain that you were becoming a full-time parent, travelling the world, or taking on a personal project.
TWITTER 2022 PLANNER
Twitter have compiled some of their best Twitter tips and tools into a 2022 Twitter Planner to help you brainstorm and plan your marketing campaigns for 2022!
This is a great resource for planning your social activity, covering best practices and tips for setting campaign targets.
Download the Twitter 2022 Planner here.
FACEBOOK ROLLS OUT FACEBOOK PROTECT
If you’re an active Facebook user, you may have seen a new alert to turn on Facebook Protect. This is a new feature, helping to protect high-target accounts from hackers and threats, and is currently being rolled out to users around the world.
If you haven’t had this alert from Facebook, it may be heading your way soon, or you may not be an eligible account. If that is the case, don’t worry! There are plenty of other ways you can protect your Facebook profile and page.
Find out how to protect your page here.
SOCIAL MEDIA SHUT DOWN
As a result of the devastating events in Ukraine, the Kremlin have restricted Twitter and Facebook, and issued a complete ban of social media giant, Instagram, in an effort to monitor and censor content seen by Russian citizens.
Though this is terrifying in many ways, we think this just highlights the power of social media and the voice it gives normal people around the world. Though it may be seen by many just as a way to talk about their lunch, or advertise their business, it is also an important place to keep up to date with current affairs and inspire and support people across the world.
We have seen so much good come out of social media in response to the war on Ukraine, and so many people using social media to show their support. Find out how we have supported Ukraine, and join in our challenge here.
INTRODUCING TWITTER COMMUNITIES
Twitter Communities give people a dedicated place to connect, share, and get closer to the discussions they care about. Not dissimilar to Facebook Groups, Twitter Communities allow you to tweet to a closed group of people, without this being seen by anyone else in the Twittersphere.
To join a community, you can either accept an invite from an admin, moderator, or other member, or if it’s an open group, you can simply search for a community and click ‘join’.
Do you have access to Twitter Communities yet and have you joined a Community? Let us know what you think!
INTRODUCING TIKTOK STORIES
TikTok are jumping on the bandwagon of Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook and are currently trialling a new Story feature. TikTok Stories will allow users to post stories to their profile which will automatically delete after 24 hours.
This feature is still in testing and is not yet accessible by everyone yet, but we’re sure it won’t be long before all TikTok users have the ability to post daily stories to their accounts.
INSTAGRAM EXPANDS PRODUCT TAGGING
For a while, creators have had the ability to tag products in their Instagram posts, enabling followers shop directly from a product photo.
Instagram has recently announced the expansion of this feature, enabling ALL Instagram users to tag products in their photos. This is a great feature for influencers and collaborators, or just anyone wishing to share a great product with their circle, as it will allow them to direct followers straight to where they can buy that product.
If you have an Instagram shop, this is also of benefit to you! Encourage your customers to tag your products in their photos to further expand your reach.
INSTAGRAM LAUNCHES ALGORITHM-FREE FEED
After receiving feedback from Instagram users about their algorithm-controlled content, Instagram has announced the roll-out of an algorithm-free feed for all users.
Now when you visit your Instagram app, you will have the option to switch from a ‘following’ feed showing posts from the accounts you follow, and a ‘favourites’ feed which shows posts from up to 50 favourited accounts. And the big thing is, all these posts appear in chronological order without the meddling of any algorithms!
We’re not too sure how this new layout will fare, or how long it will stick around, as the likelihood is that people will get tired of switching from one feed to the other, or will end up missing out on important posts due to the chronological sorting.
So, we may be back to the old feed sorting before long anyway, but we’ll see!
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS MONTH!
We hope you enjoyed this month’s round-up and we can’t wait to see what March has in store! Be sure to keep an eye out for next month’s update to see what’s changed!
Don’t forget, you can also get our monthly updates straight through to your inbox when you subscribe to our newsletter here.
Is there something we’ve missed? We’d love to hear any other changes you’ve spotted in the last month, so be sure to share them with us on social media.