New social media features and updates to know this week
Updates from TikTok, LinkedIn and more.
This week, Instagram is shattering your aesthetic dreams and rivals Threads and X are both offering new analytics tools.
It’s a busy week of updates – let’s get into it.
Your carefully curated, aesthetically pleasing Instagram grid may be in danger. A new vertical grid that gets rid of the iconic square format is in testing.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri said that the squares are a vestige of an earlier age for the app and that “the vast majority” of content uploaded to Instagram today is vertical. It’s also likely a nod to the increasing importance of video, which is all vertical, for the app.
Mosseri noted that the change may be “annoying” for those who prefer to curate a perfect grid, and that he hopes to find a way to manage the change for everyone.
TikTok
TikTok is piloting a program to include Amber Alerts, which inform the public of missing and endangered children, on the For You page to maximize visibility. For now, the test is only in Texas. It’s a clever partnership that could help save children.
TikTok is also adding a number of new features to its DMs, further emphasizing the importance of person-to-person messaging on mass communication apps. The new additions include custom stickers and group chats of up to 32 people. These changes will enable groups to watch videos together and comment in real time. Group chats are not available for those age 13-15 and teens 16-17 will have additional restrictions.
YouTube
Shorts, YouTube’s answer to TikTok, have exploded in popularity the last few years. Now, YouTube is looking to mesh Shorts and its more traditional longer form content into one feed. While it’s only in the experimentation phase, the move underscores the importance the Short has taken on YouTube in a fairly, er, short period of time.
YouTube is also testing AI-generated summaries of Live chats. These are similar to summaries you may have seen on Facebook, drawing together the dominant themes of a chat. Given how quickly Live chats can move, this could help creators keep their finger on the pulse of conversations.
X
X is expanding the analytics available to Premium subscribers. Those willing to pay for a blue check mark can now view data on age, gender, country of origin and active times for their audience.
The app formerly known as Twitter has also released API capability for long form posts, which are also available only for Premium subscribers.
Threads
Threads is also expanding analytics options, though these are available to all users. Insights include views, replies, reposts and quotes, plus follower demographics.
As part of a new rollout of tools aimed directly at creators and businesses, users will also be able to save up to 100 drafts of posts and schedule content directly from Threads. Forward this news to a social media manager to make their day.
Meta
A number of ad campaign optimization updates are coming to Meta properties. These include:
- Additional testing of Conversion Value Rules, which allow advertisers to tell Meta the audiences that are more or less valuable to them.
- An opt-in setting that allows for the reporting of incremental conversions, or those that were nudged to completion by the ad.
- The ability to connect website analytics directly to Meta analytics using an API. Supported programs include Google Analytics and Northbeam.
All of these are still in the testing and experimentation phase.
And in a welcome move for agencies, you can now switch between 10 profiles in Meta Business Suite.
LinkedIn is beefing up its search capabilities, leaning heavily on AI in the process. The platform offers an unusually detailed description of how this works, but the bottom line is that it will reward content that answers the query, is well-written and how long people spend reading the post once they’ve found it.
Allison Carter is editor-in-chief of PR Daily. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
It’s good that we’re putting out the amber alerts on more sites.