We know how confusing keeping up with the ever-changing world of social media can be. Our latest instalment of Social Media Unravelled is here to inform you of the updates in August 2024:
Instagram is testing a new vertical grid display
Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, revealed that they are testing a vertical grid on profiles instead of square. He stated that “the vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical; it’s either 4:3 in a photo or 9:16 in a video, and cropping it down to a square [on the profile grid] is pretty brutal.” This would mean that content would need to shift to match this new format. This also means that once the change has been made, the previous posts on your profile grid will be automatically cropped so look to ensure that no key information has been cut out.
Instagram now allows 20 frames in carousels
If you always struggled to choose just 10 photos per carousel, then you’re in luck. Instagram has expanded their carousels to have up to 20 frames. This will be beneficial as a big metric that Instagram uses to rank content is the time that a user spends looking at the content so therefore the more frames you add, the longer someone will spend looking.
Instagram changes all metrics to ‘views’
Finally, an update by Adam Mosseri that will be welcomed with open arms by marketers and business owners. Views will now become the primary metric for photos, carousels, reels and stories and replace terms like plays and reach. This gives us a good idea that Instagram will be using views as a main metric of ranking posts on the platform.
Threads adds new features
Whilst most of us may feel that Threads had its moment in the spotlight and quickly fell off, it still has 200 million monthly users and Meta is constantly expanding its features. Firstly, they announced Threads analytics, allowing desktop users to access a range of key performance metrics including view counts, interactions and audience demographics. They also rolled out more content planning features such as in-app scheduling and post drafts.
LinkedIn outlines their improved semantic search capacity
For a long time, LinkedIn has sent mixed messages when it comes to their Search system but finally they have provided some clarity. They have updated their Search system with semantic capability in order to prove relevant posts in response to search queries. In simple terms, hashtags may no longer be relevant on the platform if they are just a repetition of keywords already in your caption.
TikTok adds group chats and stickers in DMs
With the rise of engagement in DMs, TikTok is looking to tap into the trend by adding new features to its direct messaging capabilities. They have added the ability to send stickers comprising of TikTok clips and user-created stickers. Another big update is the ability to add up to 32 participants into one group chat on the platform which could be seen as a positive for businesses and creators as one share could now result in more reach.
X sees a decline in European users
Elon Musk’s platform is seemingly losing users, not gaining them. In February 2024, there were over 110 million monthly active users in Europe but by August 2024 this had fallen to 106 million. Whilst not a massive drop percentage wise, it is reported that experts predict this trend to continue, especially after Musk’s comments on the recent riots in the UK. If you use X as a platform for your business, it may be working taking some time to see if your audience are moving away from the platform.
We hope you found these updates useful and will continue to follow our series. It can be so confusing with changes happening every day so let us simplify these for you.
For any more information on any of these updates or for social media guidance, contact ella@buy-from.com or tegan@buy-from.com.