THE SOCIAL TEA #010
Welcome back to The Social Tea – your essential briefing on the freshest platform updates.
Since our last edition, Instagram has announced that photos will be getting more focus on the app in 2023 and Donald Trump’s official pages have been restored after being suspended for more than two years. So let’s get into it…
INSTAGRAM LAUNCHES ‘CHANNELS’ BROADCAST CHAT FEATURE
Instagram is rolling out a new feature called ‘Instagram Channels’, which is an in-app group messaging function where you can stay up to date on specific topics, brands, people, etc
The feature will allow creators to share public, one-to-many messages as a way to directly interact with their followers. While Stories still offer a way to update followers through a more visual lens, this new function from Meta allows them to create a more direct way of engaging via broadcast messaging.
YOUTUBE ADDS SHORTS AS COMMENT REPLIES
The evolution of Shorts keeps going and now you’ll be able to find them in the comment section. YouTube has been looking for ways to make Shorts more shareable by allowing them to be used as replies, tapping into meme culture. While this is similar to TikTok’s video reply option, this will allow YouTube users to connect with and rep their favourite videos and creators on a more exciting basis.
PINTEREST EXPANDS ITS IDEA PIN VIDEO LENGTH TO 5 MINUTES
As video becomes more and more important in the social algorithm, Pinterest has taken inspiration from TikTok and increased the length of its Idea Pins to 5 minutes.
Previously, the limit for Idea Pins was 60 seconds, so this is a huge expansion and allows users and creators on the platform to tell long-form stories. Idea Pins are currently serving over 1 billion views every single day – we’re using them. Are you?
META ANNOUNCES “META VERIFIED” SCHEME ACROSS FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM
As with every platform update, you can always expect to see a competitor copy the idea within a couple of weeks. In a shocking turn of events, Meta announced an initial test of what they’re calling ‘Meta Verified’. An official statement reads:
“To help up-and-coming creators grow their presence and build community faster, we’ll begin testing a new offering called Meta Verified, a subscription bundle on Instagram and Facebook that includes a verified badge, which authenticates your account with government ID, proactive account protection, access to account support, and increased visibility and reach. We’re starting with a gradual test in Australia and New Zealand later this week to learn what’s most valuable, and we hope to bring Meta Verified to the rest of the world soon.
Priced at $11.99 month, are the benefits worth it? It’s likely that with Meta’s development costs still rising, this could be a handy new revenue stream.
INSTAGRAM TESTS NEW MEMORY PROMPTS TO DRIVE USER ENGAGEMENT
In order to try and drive user engagement, Instagram are testing a new way for users to re-share old posts and stories, via a ‘Memory’ prompt. When you tap on the Memory Story, you’ll then be shown previous Stories that were shared around the same date.
Does this mean that Instagram engagements are in significant decline? Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri has already acknowledged that personal sharing has now switched from the main Instagram grid, into Stories and DMs, highlighting that the Memory function may be a bid to maintain user engagement.
TIKTOK INTRODUCES USAGE LIMIT FOR UNDER 18S
As outlined by the platform: “In the coming weeks, every account belonging to a user below age 18 will automatically be set to a 60-minute daily screen time limit.”
We all know how addictive TikTok can be, with high volumes of usage being linked to harmful behaviour, along with mental health concerns. From a wellbeing perspective, it makes sense to implement some level of restriction to prevent a young audience falling down the TikTok rabbit hole.
And that brings us to the end of this month’s Social Tea. As is always the case in social, we’re seeing new changes every single day and it’s only natural to wonder where to start – so make sure you follow us on social to stay ahead of the game.