4 new social media features you need to know about this week
Welcome to our final social media features update of 2022. The social media gods have blessed us with a quieter week, mostly offering tips and advice to ease us into the year ahead.
One caveat: We don’t include new updates from Twitter. There are no feature updates per se, just a lot of new rules introduced only to quickly pull them back. Whatever we write here will probably have changed by the time it is published. So just be aware that that site remains in chaos.
IG is rolling out new tools to help with account security and accessing a hacked account. Instagram.com/hacked becomes a one-stop shop for anyone who has lost access to their account, either by forgetting a password, losing access to two-factor authentication, or being properly hacked.
The app also tests alerts if an account suspected—but not proven—of impersonation interacts with you in a variety of ways, from following you to DMing you.
Finally, in a marked difference from Twitter, Instagram places a deeper emphasis on verification, displaying the classic blue badge in more places, including in stories and DMs.
TikTok
It could be big: TikTok is testing horizontal video. The site has long only supported vertical video — the natural holding position for a mobile phone — but Social Media Today reports that they’re looking wide.
It’s still in testing mode, so who knows if and when it will be available to everyone. However, it’s worth starting to think about how it might fit into your strategy moving forward. Think more cinematic style videos that feel like movies rather than the more authentic realism that vertical video often offers.
TikTok also published a “What’s Next” report to help you plan your year ahead. Among the trends it expects to loom large on these cutting-edge apps are:
- Active entertainment: “This means that when advertising messages are delivered like an ad but loved like entertainment, brands can see incredible business results.”
- Making room for joy: “Whether it’s the growth of meme culture — providing a language for people to bond over humor; people share wellness “life hacks” – everyday strategies that empower people to make space for themselves when they need to; or a creator who highlights how they reward themselves at any budget level, people dedicate space and time for joy in the way that suits them best.”
- Community-Building Ideals: “TikTok is 1.8 times more likely to introduce people to new topics they didn’t know they liked compared to traditional social platforms (And as people look for ways to disrupt the status quo, they will looking to peers and role models who show the confidence to live life that way theywill.”
Read the full report here.
Reddit is often overlooked as part of social media strategies. It’s a decentralized, often persnickety group of communities that can take time and patience to crack. But the app is actively courting businesses, including launching its new Reddit for Business site.
As the website states:
- Half a billion people visit Reddit every month
- 90% of users trust Reddit to learn about new products and brands
It’s clear that Reddit wants you to buy ads. But these insights can also help you launch (or refine) an organic website strategy in the year ahead.
Allison Carter is executive editor of PR Daily. Follow her further Twitter or LinkedIn.
