From Twitter chaos to brand new social media platforms, we have plenty of updates to share with you this month! Here are some of the social media changes and updates we’ve spotted throughout November…
TWITTER IN CHAOS
Well, as anticipated, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has not been without its dramas!
Kicking off with the culling of around 50% of Twitter’s 7,500 strong workforce to cut costs, resulting in many long-standing members left in confusion as to whether or not they still have jobs.
And we’re sure you won’t have missed all the drama surrounding verified accounts, with users now having to pay $8 for the privilege… More on that later!
Oh… and Trump’s Twitter account has been reinstated too, so that’s a bonus…
INTRODUCING MASTODON
With Twitter in chaos and users either concerned about how long the app will stick around, or simply not wanting to be there anymore, many Twitter users are flocking to the new Twitter-esque social media platform, Mastodon.
Mastodon has actually been around since 2016, but for many, this is the first they are hearing of it due to the aforementioned disaster over at Twitter.
On the surface, Mastodon looks very much like Twitter, but there are some significant differences, such as a larger character limit of 5,000 characters, the ability to edit posts (a much awaited feature over at Twitter), and accounts all being set up on different servers.
So, have you given Mastodon a go yet??
WHATSAPP COMMUNITIES
If you’re a WhatsApp user, you may have seen a pop-up in the last few days announcing WhatsApp Communities. But what are Communities and how are they different to Groups?
Communities are a new feature designed to offer larger, more structured discussion groups. Features include admin controls, sub-groups, 32-person voice and video calls, larger-file sharing, emoji reactions and polls.
Communities could be a great tool for clubs and organisations in which the admins can share relevant updates to the group, and create smaller sub-groups within this.
INSTAGRAM MUSIC FEATURES
Music has become a bigger part of the overall social media experience, thanks to TikTok and Reels which offer a more immersive sound-on experience.
Instagram appear to have been embracing this of late, by first introducing the option to add music to a profile (a bit like MySpace), and now by introducing the option to add music to static image posts.
So, just like you can add music to Reels and Stories, you may now see the option on image posts as well, allowing you to a choose a 5 to 90 second segment of a song to use.
TWITTER TICKS
So, it’s all been kicking off over at Twitter as you know, and one of the latest dramas is that of verified accounts and blue ticks. Blue ‘verified’ ticks have been used on Twitter to show that the account is a real deal, for instance the official account of a celebrity or big brand.
Earlier in the month, Elon Musk outlined his plan of charging $8 per month for an account to receive its verified status, which lead to some mass debate around authenticity – what’s to stop any old randomer paying for a tick and pretending to be a big celeb?
Enter Musk’s revised plan. There will now be three different coloured ticks: gold checks for companies, grey checks for government, and blue for individuals (celebrity or not). Glad that clears things up…
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS MONTH
We hope you enjoyed this month’s round-up and we can’t wait to see what December 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.