Unpredictable
Just Another Day in Social Media. 😉
"Desperado, why don't you come to your senses..." is what I would like to say to Facebook, especially after learning that it reportedly hired a Republican marketing firm to create bad press for TikTok. According to a recent report by Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz, the marketing firm, Targeted Victory, worked to get news outlets to cover TikTok trends that could be harmful to children — including ones that never existed. Despite these efforts, it doesn't seem like TikTok took a major hit. But you've got to wonder how desperate Facebook must feel to resort to these tactics.
Here are today's top stories:
ICYMI: A not-so-wayback playback
Instagram unveils silent mode and other new messaging features
LinkedIn gives creators a few more tools
And showcasing what's weird on Wikipedia...
Read on ⬇️
A Not-So-Wayback Playback
Social media updates are always hard to predict. But so far, 2022 has thrown us a few curveballs. From an inspiring Twitter campaign, to a new Instagram caption feature, and more time for TikTok videos — the platforms continue to keep us guessing. Keep reading if you'd like a recap of the top social media updates and stores in 2022 (so far)...
Best Campaign of 2022 (So Far)
In January, Twitter came out with a campaign called "Tweeting It Into Existence." It highlighted 12 "Very Important Tweeters" (aka: VITs, aka: singers, actors, athletes and others) on billboards across Canada and the U.S. featuring their original tweet and an image of them manifesting those dreams. For example, the billboard of Canadian actor Simu Liu features his 2018 tweet "Ok @Marvel, are we going to talk or what? #ShangChi" and him in his Marvel gear. We also love this one of Issa Rae, featuring her on the red carpet and her 2010 tweet, "When I grow up, I want to be a more successful version of me." Mission accomplished.
TikTok Gives Us 10 (Minutes of Video)
In February, TikTok announced it would give users globally the ability to upload videos of up to 10 minutes in length — up from the current three minutes. “Today, we’re excited to start rolling out the ability to upload videos that are up to 10 minutes, which we hope would unleash even more creative possibilities for our creators around the world," a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch. When the TikTok app first came out, the max video length was 15 seconds. The company later upped that to 60 seconds, and most recently it was three minutes. This latest 10-minute update pits the app directly against YouTube. But Google-owned YouTube was already clearly worried about the impact of TikTok, and launched its own competitor called "Shorts."
Instagram Adds Captions to Feed Videos
In March, Instagram rolled out a new feature that automatically generates captions for videos uploaded to the Feed. When it was announced, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri admitted this update was "a long time coming." This now means that creators don't have to use a third-party app, or upload a transcript separately — a huge time saver! According to an article in The Verge, the captions are currently available in "select languages" and Instagram expects the wording to become more accurate as more people use the captions, and the AI gets better at understanding what's being said.
Gen Z is Showing LinkedIn Some Love: WSJ
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky (now almost two years in the role) about where the platform is at right now. And according to Roslansky, Gen Z is starting to warm to the professional network. Part of that is related to the fact that platforms like Facebook and Twitter are becoming more problematic. In response to the influx of new users, LinkedIn is responding with new features, like giving the users the ability to filter out political content (only available in the US right now). LinkedIn is also investing heavily in the ability to host live audio and video events right in the platform. You can also now add a short introductory video to your profile by creating a Cover Story. Perhaps it's (finally) LinkedIn's time to shine?
SOCIAL SNACKS
Getting the Message
Meta recently announced seven new Instagram messaging features. They include:
Active Now: This will tell you when your friends are active on Instagram
Silent: Sending a message late at night and don't want to wake a friend? Just add @silent to a message and it won't send a push notification
Quick Send: As you scroll through Instagram's feed, long press on the send icon (that paper airplane looking icon) and then send to a friend
New Music Sharing: Send a 30-second preview of a song via DMs
Other new features include polling, a lo-fi chat theme, and replying while you browse. Learn more.
When I Say "LinkedIn", You Say "Creator"
Ok, so it might not feel totally natural to think of LinkedIn users as content creators. But the Microsoft-owned company is working to change that, unveiling a new set of features for anyone who chooses to turn on Creator Mode. The new features announced last week by LinkedIn include:
New content alerts. By hitting the small bell in the corner of the profile page, followers can choose to be notified when you post something new
New profile video tools. Linked will prompt you to help "inspire on what to share" as well as new metrics, and showcasing your videos in the feed and search
New metrics. Creators will get enhanced metrics — such as impressions and shares — in a detailed summary page
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ICYMI
🔴 Instagram tests new ways to support social movements on the platform [Instagram Blog]
🔴 Twitter says its Professional version is now available globally to everyone [@TwitterBusiness]
🔴 TikTok launches an in-app creation tool with content from GIPHY [TikTok Blog]
🔴 Pinterest says Pinners are turning to the platform for period proud inspiration [Pinterest Blog]
🔴 Snapchat allows Snapchatters to send YouTube links through the Snapchat camera [Snapchat Blog]
APP-LIKE
TikTok Keeps the Top Spot
If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, this chart isn't very surprising. Once again, TikTok was the most downloaded app globally overall, and in the App Store, according to mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower. It saw a total of 186 million installs in the first quarter of the year. But it's interesting that Instagram was the most downloaded app on Google Play (Facebook was in the top spot in 2021).
WEIRD-LIKE
Plumbing the Depths of Wikipedia
We're all familiar with Wikipedia, but you may not know about some of its weirder pages, such as the Avril Lavigne replacement conspiracy theory or The Most Unwanted Song and the Christmas pickle. These are exactly the types of pages that Annie Rauwerda is compiling in an Instagram account, @depthsofwikipedia. I first read about this in the NY Times, which reported Rauwerda started compiling these pages during the pandemic. “Everyone was starting projects, and this was my project,” she said. I can honestly say I didn't pick up any new hobbies during the pandemic, but if I had, I wish I had known about this.
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