From Instagram reels to the Twitter ‘For You’ page to LinkedIn’s audio events, social media platform updates have been coming in thick and fast recently, and staying on top of them all has often felt like an almost impossible task. Well fear not, our social media experts have you covered! Here are some of the top social media platform updates that we have been keeping an eye on and think you should know about, too.
1. You are now able to display up to five links in your bio
Following a successful trial, Instagram has released one of its most requested feature updates, which will allow users to add up to five links in their Instagram biography. This will expand the opportunity to drive social traffic to other platforms and improve link building opportunities from the platform. However, we have to consider how this might affect Linktree, whose main use was to improve outbound linking opportunities from Instagram – thoughts?
2. Instagram Reels trends
Have you been feeling stuck in a rut or uninspired when it comes to your Instagram Reels content? Not to worry, Instagram has you covered! Their new Reels trends hub enables users to discover trending songs, hashtags and topics that will help get their Reels content in front of more people and drive higher engagement. This will also be incredibly beneficial when it comes to researching and planning content.
3. Updates to the video-editing experience within Reels
We can all unite over the frustration of editing Reels video content within the app. Well, Instagram has taken heed and come up with an answer to our prayers. This latest social media platform update makes the in-app video editing experience less clunky and allows you to edit videos, audio, stickers, and text on the same screen. These changes should make it easier to align and time elements in your Reels.
4. New features added to Reels analytics offering
New features have been added to the Instagram Reels analytics to give creators further insight into what is and isn’t working in their current strategy. New insights will include total watch time and average watch time for each reel, giving us further data for analysis and informing future content.
5. Instagram Reels gifts…
Perhaps a slightly odd one – last year, Instagram introduced Reels gifts as a way for select creators to earn money from their audience. Initially launched to a limited number of creators, gifts are now expanding to more markets and will allow viewers to purchase stars and use them to send virtual gifts to creators who will earn a revenue share equal to $0.01 USD per star received. Perhaps not a platform update many in the digital marketing space will be concerned with, but one that we should be aware of.
6. Instagram is testing a new generative AI sticker creation process in-app
We are all well aware of AI and how it is impacting the digital marketing industry. Every platform is taking the opportunity to understand its capabilities and finding ways to use it to their advantage, and Instagram is no exception. It is closing in on the launch of its first generative AI tool which will enable users to create visuals within the app based on text prompts.
A screenshot shared by an app researcher shows an example of how Instagram is developing a process that would allow users to create custom stickers powered by generative AI. Users would then be able to share those stickers in-app, providing another channel for people to engage and create using Instagram’s native tools.
As we know from the already fast development of AI, this is just the start for all social media platform updates we are sure we will see.
1. New topic prompts to support creators
As part of the platform’s wider roll-out of a central location for creator analytics and tools to make content management easier within the app, LinkedIn have added new topics and post prompts. This platform update will help guide creators in building their in-app presence and make the notoriously tricky task of content idea creation that little bit easier.
LinkedIn has further updated this by experimenting with generative AI prompts for posts. See this example shared by app researcher Nima Owji:
LinkedIn have announced that they will no longer count ‘hibernated or restricted accounts’ in follower or connection numbers. This platform update has been made to better support LinkedIn members with more reliable engagement and research insights. They will be regularly updating members’ connection and follower counts by removing restricted or hibernating accounts in order to ‘build a safe, authentic and transparent experience’.
2. Native post scheduling
LinkedIn’s native post-scheduling feature will allow creators to choose when they want their post to go live without having to post immediately or use a third-party scheduling platform. LinkedIn explained how scheduling within the platform can be better than using a third-party scheduling platform because:
It is more directly aligned with the platform’s systems
It is easier to tag other pages (and people which you can’t do via a third-party scheduling platform)
It is easier to see how your post will look within the app
You can now schedule posts up to three months in advance and will be able to see all scheduled posts via your company page tools.
3. Audio events
This social media platform update sees LinkedIn adding audio events for company pages, providing another way to engage with their audience. Companies can make professional connections through audio events, and can also tune into industry-specific discussions to learn from leaders in their fields.
4. Company page following
Company pages are now able to follow other pages on the platform. This provides a means of staying on top of industry trends, monitoring key discussions, and finding opportunities to join conversations.
5. Algorithmically suggested posts
This platform update follows the likes of Twitter, Instagram and TikTok in showing users posts which the algorithm believes they would be interested in based off of engagement activity. Suggested posts appear with a ‘suggested’ label in your feed. This could mean higher engagement levels as posts may be put in front of more people who engage with the relevant industry and conversation topics.
If we had the time, we could write a blog a week about what is going on at Twitter – but unfortunately we don’t! With a new CEO taking the reins from Elon Musk in the near future, who knows what could happen… For now we have limited ourselves to three platform updates to be aware of.
1. Twitter ‘For You’ tab
The ‘For You’ tab was introduced on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. Unlike the ‘Following Tab’, this feed follows Twitter’s algorithm and shows users content it believes they will engage with based on previous in-app activity. As with LinkedIn’s algorithmically suggested posts, this platform update will emphasise the importance of community management to get content in front of more people.
2. Twitter Blue
The Twitter Blue news seems to change every other day, but the current state of affairs is important to note, particularly if you advertise on Twitter. The opt-in, paid monthly subscription that adds a blue checkmark to your account will give verified accounts early access to new features such as ‘edit tweet’. A more recent addition to this platform update means that only Twitter verified accounts will be able to advertise on the platform – a big change if you heavily rely on Twitter advertising for your business.
3. Highlights tab
Yet another tab Twitter is trialling is a new ‘Highlights’ tab where users will be able to showcase their best tweets. Similar to Instagram’s pinned posts, this will benefit accounts looking to drive subscriptions by highlighting their best content.
Whatever your thoughts on TikTok, the platform is carving a huge space in the social media landscape and its effects are being seen and felt across the board. Whether you are utilising it for your business or not, it is important to be aware of how the platform is adapting and factor those changes into your overall social media strategy.
1. TikTok keyword insight tool
This is essentially TikTok’s version of SEO tool SEMRush. The tool helps users discover top-performing keywords, sounds and videos on TikTok ads. These are keywords that might appear in voiceovers, text overlays or ad captions. When you search a term, you can click the ‘details’ button and it takes you to the specific videos using that keyword.
2. TikTok’s new in-app prompts
TikTok is encouraging more users to add a location to their post by enticing them with the potential of more reach if they do so.
If the location a user adds happens to be a business, TikTok is also testing a new prompt to get users to add an in-app review.
As one of the big players in the social media SEO game, these new TikTok prompts could be a big opportunity for creators and businesses in terms of discovery potential.
As we mentioned, these updates are happening daily so they are difficult to always be on top of. We share some of the top updates as they occur on our LinkedIn, and also keep you updated in our NEW monthly email so be sure to check out our LinkedIn page and subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date.
If you are looking for some social media help, get in touch with the team to discuss how we might be able to work together and help you navigate the maze that is the social media landscape today.
