It was an unprecedented plot twist that shocked the world, with Twitter and other platforms rolling out the metaphorical red carpet for those frustrated in not being able to log in to their accounts.
But in the midst of Facebook’s global outage, a number of announcements were made and new features released by other platforms. Here’s our monthly roundup, so read on to find out what’s new!
Instagram: New post, swipe and collaboration features
There were a raft of new feature announcements by Instagram during October, some of which had users rejoice and shout “finally!!” Yes, you guessed it, Instagram finally announced that users can now post from their desktop.
Instagram had previously allowed users to access their feed via a desktop browser, but only for messages and updates. Now, this oft-requested feature is finally launching, removing the reliance solely on the app.
The arrival of one new feature was quickly balanced with the removal of another, with Instagram announcing it was getting rid of the “swipe up” feature, a clear tell-tale sign of influencer marketing.
Replacing it are link stickers. Like the retired ‘swipe up feature’, and in another shock plot twist, are available for everyone. In comparison, the ‘swipe up feature’ was only available for verified accounts or accounts with more than 10,000 followers!
Another hot feature announced by Instagram was the collaboration feature, allowing two users to create one post that features on both feeds. The feature also allows users to share likes, comments and reels, completely in sync.
There were a number of other feature announcements by Instagram during October. They announced brand new tools to help brands and creators connect on the platform, including a dedicated partnership messages inbox, and the ability for brands to find creator partners based on Instagram data. IGTV is also having a makeover, merging with Instagram Video to form Instagram TV. We’ll keep you updated as to how this develops!
Pinterest: Fighting the TikTok rivalry with new video features
When we first heard that PayPal were in talks to acquire Pinterest, the team at Selesti put forward their guesses for how much the bid was worth. Suffice to say, no-one came close, and when it was revealed that this takeover bid was valued at $45 billion, it was quickly announced that PayPal was abandoning its pursuit of the takeover… c’est la vie!
That didn’t stop Pinterest from announcing a few new features, the first of which was Pinterest TV. This new platform will provide a destination for people to watch live, original and shoppable episodes featuring creators on Pinterest.
Another feature announced by Pinterest was a ‘Watch’ feed in a bid to rival TikTok and provide a scrolling, vertical feed of video content.
Facebook goes Meta
We were mega meta(!) surprised when Facebook (note: the umbrella company, not the app), announced that it was changing its name to Meta. This has been met with a mixed reception, with some confused, and some offering a satirical analysis (being that the Hebrew translation is “dead”!)
Despite this, Facebook (the app) announced that it was shifting its audience focus, moving away from optimising for a larger number of older people to instead serving young adults, in an effort to recapture the youth market for future success.
Separately, Facebook also announced some new shopping functionality. When creating a shop, users can now tailor the shop layout and collections to their customers, allowing them to more easily discover products based on their interests and activity.
LinkedIn continues to go all in with company pages
In our previous monthly roundups, we’ve talked about LinkedIn going all in with it’s brand features, pushing brands to revamp their company pages and build their brand following on their platform.
LinkedIn is doubling down on this focus, adding new tools and features to their company pages. The first is adding a ‘Primary Workspace’ option on company profiles, allowing businesses to be transparent in their employee way of working, be it ‘remote’, ‘hybrid’ or ‘on-site’.
The ‘My Company’ tab has also received some much needed love and attention, allowing users to easily curate content and instantly reshare them, a feature which will undoubtedly increase employee advocacy.
And finally, LinkedIn is also improving its competitor analytics, making them much more customisable and enabling users to add up to 9 competitors to benchmark their LinkedIn page performance.
Elsewhere in the world of social media…
Before we conclude this article, we wanted to wrap up with a quick fire round of other updates in the world of social media.
First, we previously reported that TikTok had surpassed YouTube in watch time per user. That has been cemented further in their reports of astronomical engagement, in some cases 3% to 9% higher than other platforms!
Second, Twitter is continuing to improve its Spaces feature, making them more collaborative and allowing users to bring in hosts. As Spaces continues to develop and grow, we’ll bring you more updates.
Finally, Hootsuite released an October Update to their Digital 2021 Report, with new stats on digital channels and online behaviours. If you fancy reading it, you can download it here.
Which new feature are you most excited about?
Social media continues to grow, and we love analysing new features and seeing what each platform is bringing to an ever-growing table.
Got a question about a new feature, or need a little help with your social media strategy? Selesti is primed to help with driving traffic and building a community, and we’d love to hear from you.