Social Media Portal: Headlines, best practices & platform updates

Social Media Headlines (the big ones)

There are major developments in the ongoing sagas of TikTok and Twitter. Here is a quick catch-up:

1. TikTok: After a BuzzFeed News report that revealed ByteDance employees in China were regularly accessing US users' data, the FCC commissioner wrote to Google and Apple, asking them to review TikTok's compliance related to app store policies. The Senate has also asked the FTC to investigate. My advice: This development is a casualty of the US' lack of coherent privacy policy, and (maybe? hopefully?) will drive the US to adopt one. In the meantime, carry on.
2. Twitter: Elon Musk is trying to back out of his deal to buy Twitter, and the ordeal will likely head to court. Check out Casey Newton's Platformer newsletter for more context. My advice from the May newsletter stands: make sure you're diversified, don't waste your energy on the drama... but plan for an edit button.

Social Media Headlines (also important)

• A leaked memo from Facebook reveals plans from the company to put more algorithmic weight on recommended posts than followers' content, mirroring TikTok's approach.
• Meta announces that the Reels API will soon be open for external use, which means that Instagram Reels will soon be an option on third-party platforms like Sprout and Hootsuite.
• Meta expanded access to live chat support for businesses with the "Meta Pro Team."
• eMarketer predicts that US adults will spend an average of 75 minutes a day on social media this year, up from 59 minutes in 2019.
• YouTube says it's closing in on TikTok in the short video race. 
• A guide to how the algorithms of eight social media platforms work.
• Twitter is by far the most common social media site US journalists use for their jobs... but the public most often turns to Facebook for news.
• Messenger Kids now features digital literacy lessons.
• YouTube's mobile app can now sync to your TV, creating a better second screen experience.
• Twitter overhauls its process for reporting rule-breakers.
• Social media managers rejoice! A limited version of Photoshop will now be free on the web.

Best Practices

• How to flop successfully on TikTok
• YouTube outlines best practices for podcasters posting their shows on the platform.
• The biggest myths behind using Instagram Reels to grow your audience
• How creators can help brands engage today's youth
• TikTok's new trending page helps you find the hashtags, audio and creators on the rise
• Tips on making online community connections.
• Four ways to predict (and prevent) a reputation crisis
• HubSpot lays out 20 social media mistakes to avoid in 2022.
• The ultimate guide to Instagram hashtags.
• How to succeed on YouTube Shorts, based on an analysis of 4.5 million videos.
• MrBeast explains YouTube’s algorithm
• Hootsuite's TikTok Culture Guide is a great introduction to the platform.
• Poynter has four steps to revise a newsroom social media policy.
• How to build trust as a social media manager

Case Studies

• How Netflix commissioned "trailer remakes" from three TikTok creators for the launch of Red Notice.
• The LA Times has formed a six-person team to create content on Instagram and TikTok for young, diverse consumers who aren't already part of the publisher's audience.
• National Geographic handed over its Instagram account to an Indigenous model and activist.
• How Duolingo went viral on TikTok and gained millions of followers.
• How The Buffalo News used social videos on the Buffalo Bills to increase engagement.
• How a Minnesota-based Instagram influencer is bringing Americans out of their echo chambers.

Platform Changes

Instagram

• Instagram opened its API for Reels, allowing third-party tools like Sprout to allow its users to schedule and publish Reels.
• Instagram now supports Reels up to 90 seconds long.
• Features previously reserved for Instagram Stories (Poll, Quiz and Emoji slider stickers) have been extended to Reels.
• Instagram now allows users to import your own audio to a Reel.
• Instagram introduces Reel templates, a simpler way to get started with video creation.
• Instagram will include Amber Alerts in users’ feeds to help find missing children.
• Instagram now has an option to mute all future message requests from a user.
• Grid planning! You can now pin up to three posts (photos or Reels) to your Instagram profile.
• Instagram enhanced its sensitive content controls, suppressing the reach of videos that depict violence, are sexually explicit and other sensitive content.
• Instagram's tests of full screen feeds (including photo posts) are expanding.
• Instagram introduces a "remix this photo" feature for Reels.
• Instagram is testing AR stickers and AR text for Stories, allowing you to add animated, digital objects overlaid onto your physical space.
• Instagram has a new AI face scanning feature for age verification.
• Instagram now lets you create a Boomerang from a video.
• Instagram has added a high-quality upload option for Reels.
• Instagram increased the character limit for profile names from 30 to 64 characters.

Facebook

• Facebook will discontinue its video ‘Premieres’ feature on the 22nd of August, recommending instead that you use scheduled video posts for any pre-recorded content that you want to debut at a specific time. 
• New Facebook Reels creative tools and features include a Sound Sync feature and the ability to edit, clip and schedule Facebook Reels on desktop.
• Facebook introduces "channels," which enables Facebook Group members to connect with each other via chat or audio.
• Facebook has a new feature to recognize collaborations in individual posts.
• Facebook now lets you assign a Community Manager for your live streams to help moderate.
• For any Facebook page or profile with subscribers enabled, you now have the option to post only to your subscribers from both the Facebook app and desktop.
• Facebook enables editing to image comments.
• Facebook rolls out a music sharing feature to Groups.

Twitter

• TweetDeck for Mac was shut down on July 1.
• Twitter is slowly rolling out a CoTweets feature that lets two accounts co-author a tweet.
• Twitter launched its own blogging platform called Twitter Notes.
• Twitter has rolled out the closed caption toggle to everyone on iOS and Android.
• Twitter has made its tool for reporting harmful tweets available to everyone.
• Twitter is rolling out audio descriptions of charts included in Twitter Analytics as an accessibility feature.
• Twitter's new video analytics include total and unique views and retention stats.
• Twitter Spaces are becoming more like live podcasts, as they will no longer expire after 30 days.
• Twitter announced a partnership with Shopify, allowing merchants to connect their Twitter accounts with their product store.

TikTok

• TikTok launched TikTok Avatars with customizable hair, skin tones and voices that can mimic users' movements during recordings.
• TikTok launched playlists (but only for accounts with more than 10,000 followers).
• TikTok launches a LIVE subscriptions feature, allowing subscribers that pay a monthly fee access to exclusive features such as badges, emotes and a subscribers-only chat.
• TikTok rolls out two new text-to-speech voice options.

YouTube

• YouTube introduces a corrections feature, that allows channels to add an info-card to a video with a correction or clarification (as opposed to re-uploading an entire video).
• YouTube will now alert channel managers if a channel's performance drops significantly.
• YouTube cracks down on impersonation channels.
• YouTube expands analytics for Shorts to make it comparable to other platform data, including the addition of new and returning viewer stats.

LinkedIn

• LinkedIn launches a Business Manager to help companies manage their Company Pages and ads.
• LinkedIn rolls out comment and comment replies on Event pages.
• LinkedIn Company Pages can now have lead-generation forms.
• LinkedIn rolls out new features to make it easier for others to follow your updates.

Miscellaneous

• Snap is testing a premium service called Snapchat Plus, where a $3.99 subscription can give users exclusive access to top tier Snap features.
• Snap now allows users to reply directly to creators videos in its Spotlight section.
• Twitch streamers can now bring in guests by activating "Guest Star" mode.
• Reddit's social audio feature Reddit Talk gets audio effects and topic tags.

Summer Reads

• There is a general sense that social media is bad for society — but is it?
• Inside YouTube's long bet on TikTok-style short form content
• How TikTok is threatening TV and streaming
• TikTok is the town square now.
• The missing link between journalism and TikTok
• Publishers grapple with younger audiences avoiding the news
• The benefits (and challenges) of social media management in 2022
• How TikTok is electrifying the world of books
• Why young journalists of color find Twitter so useful in their careers
• The expectations of and pressures on the social media manager in 2022
• Social media is now an 'active danger' for journalists, yet 'integral' to the job