As we’re on social media pretty much all day, every day, we see lots of changes and updates that others may miss. It’d be a bit cheeky of us to keep all these to ourselves, so to keep you in the loop and to make sure you’re not falling behind the times, our monthly round-ups have you covered!
Here are some of the changes we spotted in the world of social media this May…
SEE WHO VIEWED YOUR PROFILE ON TIKTOK
You know that sneaky LinkedIn feature that shows you who’s been looking at your profile? Well it looks like TikTok are introducing something very similar.
TikTok users will now be able to see who has viewed their profile in the last 30 days. It’s not yet clear whether this feature is still in testing or being rolled out to all users, but it’s definitely something to look out for if you’re an avid TikTokker!
If you have the feature, you’ll see an eye icon in the top right corner when you look at your own profile. If you click on it, you’ll see who viewed your profile in the last thirty days. Only you can see who viewed your profile, but if you turn on the feature, then you’re also consenting to let other people see that you’ve viewed their profile.
INSTAGRAM GOES FULL SCREEN
A few of you may have noticed some drastic changes to your Instagram feed this month, and some of us (*cough* Janet) are not best please about it!
Instagram are currently testing a TikTok-esque full screen home-feed, which basically looks like you’re on reels all the time.
So far in the SoPro circle, only Janet’s Instagram account has the new layout, but we all admit that it’s very weird to say the least and we’re not the biggest fans.
This does cause concern about the performance of static and square Instagram posts moving forward, as if Instagram goes ahead with this new layout, videos and portrait posts seem to be massively favoured.
PINTEREST LIVE
If you’re a big Pinterest creator, then this one might be up your street! This month, Pinterest launched a new app for users to livestream straight to Pinterest.
This has all been very hush hush so far and only looks to be available for certain users for the time being, but it’ll be exciting to see where this goes!
The new Pinterest TV Studio app will allow creators to go live on Pinterest as well as use multiple devices to achieve different camera angles.
LINKEDIN SWITCHES THINGS UP
We LOVE the new LinkedIn feature we’ve seen this month… Users now have the option to switch between a personal profile and a business page when reacting to posts on your timeline.
Now, when scrolling through your feed, you will see a circle with your profile picture in the bottom left-hand corner of each post with a little arrow next to it. If you click on this arrow, you will now see the option to switch to any company page you are an admin of, in order to like or comment on the post as this page.
This makes it so much easier to interact as your company and raise your business profile without all the faff. Definitely, a good move from LinkedIn in our eyes, as isn’t business what it’s all about anyway?
FACEBOOK COMMENT SUGGESTIONS
Facebook is widely believed to be the Big Brother platform that’s watching our every move and listening in to our conversations… We’re not sure about that, but for now at least, they’re taking words right out of our mouths and anticipating what we want to say.
Now, when you go to comment on a Facebook post, you may see suggested comments or emoji reactions that you can select for a super quick and easy (and super impersonal) response.
If you’re an active LinkedIn user, this may sound very familiar. LinkedIn has had the option to select from suggested comments for a while now, so it looks like Facebook are once again ‘taking inspiration’ from other social media platforms.
NB. You may be able to tell, we’re not Facebook’s biggest fans right now.
LINKEDIN ALGORITHM UPDATE
LinkedIn are seeing ‘record-breaking’ levels of engagement, but with this come those who try to play the algorithm to maximize their content performance.
To combat this, LinkedIn have announced updates to their algorithm to crack down on certain engagement-baiting posts which expressly ask or encourage people to engage with likes or reactions.
It all comes down to the fact that people just don’t like seeing the same kind of posts time and time again, and LinkedIn is currently getting clogged up by polls and engagement baiters.
This isn’t to say that you should no longer use polls or ask your network to leave a comment, but these posts may start generating a lower reach from now on.
THAT’S A REELY GOOD REEL
Reels are ‘the big thing’ on Instagram at the moment, and they’re already making their way onto other platforms too, but we have to admit, they can be a bit of a faff to put together!
This month, SoPro Sophie spotted a handy new feature which makes the creation process a whole lot quicker and easier. Now, if you’re watching a reel you’d like to replicate (maybe you like the music, and the clip timings for instance), you will now see the option at the bottom of the screen to ‘use template’.
This then copies the music, timings and layout of the reel you were watching, and all you have to do is replace the existing clips with your own!
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS MONTH!
We hope you enjoyed this month’s round-up and we can’t wait to see what June 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.