Social Media updates and what they mean for you – December 8th

Talk about a winter rush! There are plenty of updates to get your teeth stuck into this week, so let’s dive in.

Twitter
A relatively quiet week in Twitter-land – just the 2 updates to wrap your head around. First up, they’re ditching Moments. If you’re not familiar, this was launched back in 2015 as a way to entice more people to the app. Basically, it is (or should we say was) a highlight reel of the top stories of each day. Usage has been declining recently, so it’s no surprise they’re binning it off.

Tired of bots? Us too. Twitter thinks it has the answer and is testing a new process to ensure there’s a real human behind each account. What this process entails is currently shrouded in secrecy, but an attempt to control Twitter’s rampant bot problem is alright by us. Don’t worry, we haven’t gone soft. We still think Musk is a bonehead!

What does this mean for me?
If you’re a Moments user, you’ll still be able to see old Moments but not create new ones. The impact should be minimal as, like we said, usage is down.

Twitter went on a mass bot-hunt recently and took down some legit users along the way – always a risk with these things. Tweaking their methods *should* improve the situation, making the platform a better place for everyone. With fewer bots, reach for real users should improve.

Instagram
IG is back in the room. And we’re pretty excited about this update – more transparency around account status and any restrictions that have been placed on your account. If you’ve ever found yourself at the mercy of a random ban, this will be a big help.

New DM labels to help you manage customer interactions are in development – basically a workflow for your DMs without the need for a CRM. Easy.

If you were thinking, “Instagram hasn’t copied another platform for a while” never fear, they’re back at it. This time with more Be-Real-esque features – Roll Call is basically BeReal for group chats, Glimpse Stories which are supposed to be a more candid version of the standard type.

What does this mean for me?
First up, find out your account status by going to your profile, menu, settings, account, and then account status. Here you’ll be able to see whether your content is eligible for recommendation to non-followers. If not, you’ll see a sample of posts that could be responsible for your restriction, plus an explanation of why. There’s a full list of things they won’t recommend so keeping on top of it can be tricky.

When the DM labels roll out to all accounts, you’ll finally be able to wade through a sea of messages in a meaningful way. Those five labels are: flag, booked, ordered, paid, and shipped. Use these with welcome messages and saved replies to make managing DMs just that little bit easier.

One of the main reasons people like BeReal is that they are tired of the artificially curated nature of social media so utilising these new features if and when they roll out to all accounts could help show a more human side of your business.

Facebook/Meta
Three big bits of news from Meta this week. First up is new creator monetisation options specifically for the festive period. These are heavily focused on the Stars donation process and include: limited-time, holiday-themed virtual gifts and Stars Party bonus incentives for creators. Stars are basically tokens that users buy and then donate to creators.

Another week, another Metaverse push. This time in the form of avatar features such as a new avatar-specific posting option. The aim here is to get everyone used to using avatars as a representation of themselves, paving the way for higher Metaverse usage.

In an attempt to combat underage users, Meta is rolling out more age verification tools to Facebook Dating. This is the latest in a series of age verification tools rolled out since Facebook announced a partnership with Yoti, which started back in June with the verification of Instagram user ages.

What does this mean for me?
If you’re a creator using Stars, now is the perfect time to get your head around them and see what extras you can get.

Utilising the avatar features could be a great way to give your brand a more human edge. Create an avatar that suits your brand and get posting!

More age verification is always welcome, especially in an age when children are getting access to social media younger and younger. This will help protect younger users and give parents more peace of mind.

TikTok
Say hello to the fifth annual Year on TikTok report featuring the most popular viral videos of the year, educational lessons and life hacks, rising stars, key food trends, and more.

What does this mean for me?
Use the report to see what’s worked on the platform in 2022 to create your strategy for 2023. Use it to figure out what works on the app, how you can use it for your business, and which kind of trends you could use.

That’s it for this week folks! Remember to sign up for weekly updates direct to your inbox and connect with Jordan on her LinkedIn for more tips. See you next week!