Social media has become a ubiquitous part of everyday life. It’s a revolution taking the world by storm with new emerging platforms that allow anyone to share their voice. With the number of both casual and business users increasing, these platforms are regularly updating and constantly evolving new features and advancements.
There have been many platform updates launched recently. With infinite room for growth, these channels are testing all possible features to create the most user-friendly experience for both users and content creators.
First, let’s look at Instagram. It seems like every week there’s a new update, making it hard to keep up . Recently, Instagram released its direct publishing feature. For the first time ever, Instagram Business profiles can now schedule single-image posts directly to their feed. This is possible by setting up a Buffer account and connecting the Instagram account. Learn more about how to link your accounts here.
Instagram likes have become more than just a number, creating an unhealthy relationship between users and their profile analytics, so the platform decided to test removing them altogether. This fundamental change to Instagram’s user experience has been seen as a hit to influencers on the platform. Previously, their like statistics showcased their performance publicly, and now it’s private. Instagram has acknowledged this concern but noted that there are other ways that influencers can obtain useful metrics, like switching to a business account that has access to Instagram Insights.
Facebook has had its fair share of updates as well. To start, Facebook launched an update to its Creator Studio, which allows business account holders to schedule their IGTV broadcasts up to six months in advance. Once the business account and the Facebook page are linked, you can use Facebook Publishing Tools to manage your IGTV videos. This feature now brings Instagram up to speed with Facebook’s video scheduling capabilities.
Secondly, Facebook announced additions to its publisher tools and Creator Studio dashboard. Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager expanded access to more creators. Brand Collabs manager is a database of influencers (Facebook and Instagram) who are potentially open to connecting and partnering with your business, although there are still requirements to meet. See if your page qualifies here.
Just as users can follow individual accounts and hashtags, Twitter has released the option to follow topics. The hand-chosen topics appear in your Home timeline, creating a more relevant Twitter experience specific to your interests. People will be able to see your interests on your profile as well.
Twitter has also been testing a new option which would allow you to switch accounts within the tweet reply process. This option facilitates multi-account management and interactions on the go. Since so many businesses consider maintaining a strong Twitter presence essential, gaining the ability to easily manage multiple accounts 24/7 is huge.
Another test that Twitter is running is the addition of a tweet scheduling option built into the tweet composer, thereby eliminating the need to use a third-party management tool. This option allows the user to compose a tweet and schedule it to post at a chosen time, all without ever leaving the composer window.
YouTube
YouTube is improving its layout with a new desktop and tablet app update. This update utilizes an improved presentation style and provides additional control options. It also provides more room on the homepage for each preview panel, allowing for more text with each thumbnail. YouTube has also added an “Add to Que” option, as well as the option to add videos to its “Don’t Recommend Channel” list.
Finally, LinkedIn introduced “LinkedIn Notify.” Now, you can post on a company page and notify all employees that are connected to your company. This new feature is beneficial for boosting employee advocacy and ensuring that all team members are engaged with new LinkedIn posts.