8 Social Media Updates That You NEED To Know 📣

Hello business owners and marketers!

Happy August! I hope you’re all prepared for the new month and ready to smash your goals.

It goes without saying that it can be difficult to stay up with the current trends and developments when new updates are continuously being released. However, keeping up with these is critical for any company that wishes to flourish in today's market. Continue reading to see my monthly breakdown!

1. Twitter Tested Collaborative Tweets

Once again, Tik-Tok remains the trends setter. It's fascinating to see platforms such as Twitter suddenly becoming interested in co-creation as a method of keeping up with the competition. As the image by Jane Manchun Wong shows, the new feature allows users to invite another account to contribute to a single tweet. Though it’s not widely available as yet, there’s no doubt how beneficial the addition will be for influencer collaborations on the platform. 

2. Instagram Expanded Access To Reels Templates

In July, Instagram started offering more users access to its Reels 'Templates' option, which allows you to create Reels based on popular content forms in the app. The feature, which was initially released in April, is now more widely available within the Reels camera, which enables you to select a format for your Reel based on popular trends. Although many are arguing that the ‘Templates’ feature will minimise original content, it’s a great asset for creators struggling to power through a creative block. 

3. Twitter Gave Users the Capacity to 'Unmention' Themselves

The people asked, Twitter provided. Twitter now allows all users to 'unmention' themselves from a Twitter discussion, allowing users to disable their profile links within conversations in which they no longer wish to participate. By unmentioning yourself from a chat your username is untagged from the original tweet and replies, users won’t be able to mention you again within the same reply chain and you’ll no longer be notified about updates from the thread. Some have argued that this update will allow users to avoid criticism for ignorant comments, but personally I think it’s an amazing way to give users more control of their feeds. With Twitter previously being a breeding-ground for trolling, it’s a great win for prominent figures with large followings.

4. Instagram Trialled 'Notes' in Direct Messages

No shame from Instagram with this one. Instagram introduced the ‘Notes’ feature into direct messages, coincidentally soon after Twitter. As you can see in this example, posted by Owen Williams, Instagram Notes are 60-character comments that you can publish at the top of your inbox for all of your followers to see. Instagram is clearly looking for new ways to boost engagement and spark conversations but it’s hard to see the real value here. Time will tell.

5. Meta Announced That They May Soon Allow Users to Have Various Facebook Profiles Linked to a Master Account

Despite having roughly 2.93 billion monthly active users currently, many people consider Facebook a dying platform. Facebook is usually miles behind other platforms when it comes to new, exciting updates. For the first time in what seems like forever, they may be leading the pack with this one. The issue that has arisen with Facebook in recent years is that users tend to have tons of friends, ranging from their Grandma to their long-lost school friends. Many users struggle with posting content that is suitable for such a wide audience. But what if you could have various Facebook identities, with separate profiles to interact with different elements of the platform? Separate platforms for elements such as family, friends and work is what Facebook’s currently experimenting with, with users being allowed to create up to 5 separate profiles all tied back to one master account. It’s a great idea from Facebook but is it too little too late for the platform?

6. Meta Adds In-Stream Payment Options

With the debut of payments between users and businesses within Messenger chat, Meta is seeking to give its eCommerce on its platforms a boost, offering another option to promote transactions. Businesses now have the ability to request payment within a messaging thread, and users can send payments immediately, simplifying the purchasing process. Users can finalise their purchase via 'Meta Pay,' giving businesses the ability to provide customers with order updates and details while the transaction is in progress. Meta commented on the update stating that their users can “shop with confidence knowing that your payments are securely processed and your purchases are protected.” Unfortunately, this feature is only currently available within the US, but if successful looks to be rolled out internationally in the coming weeks.

7. Instagram Added The New Business Search Tools Within Maps

Last month Instagram introduced a new map search function, which allows users to discover local businesses and learn more about them using the app's features. The new map search function allows IG users to explore popular tagged places around them, as well as filter the locations by certain categories. This update will provide businesses with even more incentive to ensure that their company information is up to date in the app and that visitors are encouraged to tag them in their posts on the platform. Consider what this means for your Instagram strategy and whether your business is engaging in such usage.

8. Instagram Will Now Transform All Video into Reels

A huge announcement from Instagram here. Meta revealed that almost all video uploads will now become Reels, whether you want them to or not, and that it has also introduced a slew of new creative tools for Reels as it doubles down on the short video format. Reels are the fastest growing form of content in the app, and TikTok's widespread success has resulted in habitual shifts in consumer behaviour, which means that users are now intuitively more aligned with the format. You can understand why Instagram is embracing this.

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